No One Applauds for WATSON

This morning I listened to a radio news story about a national summit held recently on the future of middle-range professional and managerial jobs, given new technology. The summit showcased WATSON, the robot famed for winning the TV game show "Jeopardy" against a human superstar show winner.

At the summit WATSON defeated highly intelligent teams of humans from both  MIT and Harvard; the audience applauded wildly whenever a human got the right answer "against" WATSON. Then WATSON got a correct answer, no one applauded. The newscaster commented "No one applauds for WATSON... you know why? Because they're all thinking how WATSON is going to take their jobs!"

The news story was thought provoking. Many jobs have already been eliminated due to automation and artificial intelligence, and usually have been performed more cost effectively and with less error. What additional aspects of human intelligence in the workplace could be assumed by robots in the future?

I believe there is a difference between true critical thinking, and merely processing inputs and then doing a function based upon a logic platform. But WATSON gave me a bit of pause. He seemed to demonstrate better critical thinking skills than a lot of humans I know. Yow.

Critical thinking skills are highly valued at KPS3. Sometimes it's hard to describe their value when speaking to prospects and clients, but these folks certainly appreciate it when they experience the benefits.

How do YOU think critical thinking skills are developed in humans?