Running head: IBM WATSON SYSTEM 0
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IBM Watson System
Ross Boydston
Athens State University
IBM WATSON SYSTEM 1
Watson is a computer system by IBM on which they have pinned their hopes for
introducing artificial intelligence into the business world. The system was named after Thomas
Watson, IBM’s CEO, who built the company into its modern form. When IBM research
executives were searching for a big challenge for the company in the mid 2000’s, Paul Horn had
an idea (Waters, 2016; Best, 2013). Paul Horn, then director of IBM research, intended to
develop a machine that could pass the Turing Test, a test that measures machine intelligence
which requires a machine to maintain a conversation just like human.
Watson has become the first machine which passed the Turing test, however, it was not
the main challenge for a system which involved competing against humans and understanding
human speech (Best, 2013). In 2011, IBM Watson beat two of Jeopardy’s greatest champions and
