The First Home Quantum Computer?
January 9, 2019
I read “IBM Unveils Its First Commercial Quantum Computer.” The write up stated with no trace of sarcasm:
we’re not quite there yet, but the company also notes that these systems are upgradable (and easy to maintain).
Gentle reader, do you know how to maintain a cryogenic system? No background in low temperature physics? No experience working with super cooled fluids? Hey, no problemo. IBM offers services too.
The write up points out that IBM wants the quantum computer to be a work of art. How about delivering useful computing capability?
Imagine this in your WeWork space:
It’s a nine-foot-tall and nine-foot-wide airtight box, with the quantum computing chandelier hanging in the middle, with all of the parts neatly hidden away.
What is more interesting is that IBM rolled out this product at the consumer electronics show.
Quick buy IBM stock. This practical device will deliver:
Games? No.
Applications? No.
Visualizations? No.
Er, PR? Yes.
Stephen E Arnold, January 9, 2019
IBM at the Consumer Electronic Show
January 6, 2019
Yep, IBM is a consumer product company. I know this because I read “LA Sues Weather Channel App Over Stealthy Data Collection.” Consumer centric outfits like Facebook and Google may operate this way. If IBM is indeed sucking and selling data from is Weather Channel App, it too must be a consumer products’ company.
I noted “Struggling IBM Uses CES to Reinvent Itself.” I assumed that that reinvention was selling data. But, no, once again I was incorrect, a common failing.
I learned from the write up:
At CES, Rometty is expected to emphasize IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) undisputed AI chops along with its aggressive moves into the hybrid cloud market and quantum computing. But the underlying theme will be what the company characterizes as “new data,” and using AI and cloud platforms to “refine” data into something useful.
I thought it was a somewhat squishy marketing opportunity, a way to disappoint stakeholders, and a cloud of fog generated about mainframes actually selling.
No CES for me. My hunch is that those seeking gadgets will have a tough time hauling away Watson on a laptop or a desktop IBM quantum computer.
See, IBM does do consumer products as long as one defines consumer in a somewhat narrow sense.
But that sneaky app thing is promising. Isn’t the former head of the Weather Channel now head of Watson. The IBM revolving door makes me dizzy.
Stephen E Arnold, January 6, 2019
IBM: Sharing Wisdom
January 3, 2019
Apparently, it does not take just one white paper to convince people that IBM is number one—it takes 10. That is the number of publications the company shares on its AI Research page, “The New Frontiers of AI: Selected IBM Research AI Publications from 2018.” The introduction to the collection reads:
“Much of the recent progress in AI has relied on data-driven techniques like deep learning and artificial neural networks. Given sufficiently large labeled training data sets and enough computation, these approaches are achieving unprecedented results. As a result, there has been a rapid gain on ‘narrow AI’ – tasks in areas such as computer vision, speech recognition, and language translation. However, a broader set of AI capabilities is needed to progress AI towards solving real-world challenges. In practice, AI systems need to learn effectively and efficiently without large amounts of data. They need to be robust, fair and explainable. They need to integrate knowledge and reasoning together with learning to improve performance and enable more sophisticated capabilities.
We also noted:
“Where are we in this evolution? While ‘general AI’ – AI that can truly think, learn, and reason like a human- is still within the realm of science fiction, ‘broad AI’ that can learn more generally and work across different disciplines is within our reach. IBM Research is driving this evolution. We have been a pioneer of artificial intelligence since the inception of the field, and we continue to expand its frontiers through our portfolio of research focused on three areas: Advancing AI, Scaling AI, and Trusting AI.”
As the echoes of IBM tooting its own horn linger, one can glean some interesting information from the documents presented. The papers are broken into color-coded categories—Advancing AI, Scaling AI, and Trusting AI. A couple of the simpler titles include “Listening Comprehension over Argumentative Content” and “Training Deep Neural Networks with 8-bit Floating Point Numbers.” Navigate to the post for all the (very) technical wisdom.
Cynthia Murrell, January 3, 2019
Apple and IBM Try to Defy Gravity
December 21, 2018
We find it a bit brazen for IBM to be pontificating about trust after Watson Health’s recent marketing missteps. Still, on her recent visit to Brussels, that company’s CEO joined the chorus criticizing certain other tech giants for violating users’ privacy. Fortune reports, “A ‘Trust Crisis:’ IBM CEO Ginni Rometty Joins Apple’s Tim Cook in Slamming Tech Abuse of User Data.” She even went so far as to suggest the EU strengthen its laws to hold companies responsible for all content that crosses their platforms. We are informed:
“Without naming company names, Rometty pointed to the ‘irresponsible handling of personal data by a few dominant consumer-facing platform companies’ as the cause of a ‘trust crisis’ between users and tech companies, according to an advanced copy of her remarks. Rometty’s comments, given at a Brussels event with top EU officials Monday, echoed recent statements by Apple CEO Tim Coo, who in October slammed Silicon Valley rivals over their use of data, equating their services to ‘surveillance.’…
We also noted this statement:
“Seeking to separate IBM—which operates primarily at a business-to-business level—from the troubled tech companies, Rometty said governments should target regulation at consumer-facing web platforms, like social media firms and search engines.”
Certainly, IBM executives and shareholders would be quite pleased to see regulations focus on consumer-facing companies and away from B2B entities like them. Rometty offers this statement to support her position:
“The power dynamic is very different in the business-to-business markets. Tackling the real problem means using a regulatory scalpel, not a sledgehammer, to avoid collateral damage that would hurt the wider, productive, and more responsible parts of the digital economy.”
Interesting perspective. Cook’s similar criticisms were also made in Brussels, in October. Does he hope to divert attention from Apple app store monopoly concerns? To be sure, throwing shade at the competition can redirect consumer, and regulatory, fury. The pot will always call the kettle black, it seems.
Cynthia Murrell, December 21, 2018
Jeopardy Game Show Winner Now Writing Lexus Commercials
November 26, 2018
Do you have a son or daughter graduating from college next year. Perhaps a future as a game show winner is a good use for the thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours immersed in the college experience?
That’s a career path IBM Watson followed. Since winning the Jeopardy game show (complete with post production), Watson has a real job.
Watson is now writing TV commercials. Well, one commercial for Lexus if the information in “New Lexus ES Commercial Written Entirely by Artificial Intelligence” is accurate.
The idea is that Watson cranked out a script, worked with a human to shoot footage, and craft what the write up calls a “strangely compelling” chunk of Mad Ave art. Check out the non linear messaging for a new Lexus at this link.
Check it out for yourself.
Oh, and about your college graduate who wants to move from the game show to the zippy world of making TV commercials: There’s hope.
The commercial is another attempt by IBM to get some revenue juice into its over hyped Watson technology. Maybe your college grad could skip Jeopardy and just apply for a position at IBM. Help is needed it appears.
Stephen E Arnold, November 26, 2018
IBM Watson: The Smart Sports Maven
November 19, 2018
The US does not follow soccer, ahem, football. The rest of the world, however, does. Whether you call it soccer or football, it is the most popular sport in the world and the World Cup requires a lot of power and technology to cover it. The Medium’s Global Editors Network explores how in the article, “Covering The World Cup Cup 2018 With AI And Automation.”
During the World Cup, fans are ravenous for information on their teams and news networks use automation and artificial intelligence to keep up with the demand. Individual networks each did something new and amazing to cover the World Cup. The UK Times launched a World Cup Alexa Skill, Fox Sports partnered with IBM Watson to make AI-powered highlight videos, and Le Figaro created automated visual summaries.
Fox Sports’s AI video highlight machine was amazing. Watson used its AI to allow users to create on-demand videos using World Cup clips from 1958 to the present.
“According to Engadget, there are 300 archived World Cup matches that Watson’s AI technology is capable of analyzing. More specifically, the IBM Watson Video Enrichment, a programmatic metadata tool, analyses the footage to create metadata that identifies what is happening in a scene at any given moment with an associated timestamp. ‘In essence, Watson Video Enrichment acts as an automatic metadata generator that is trained to use clues, such as facial characteristics, the presence of a red card, crowd noise, what’s being said by announcers and other characteristics, to create metadata that makes the massive amount of soccer video searchable’, wrote Phil Kurz on TVTechnology.”
Le Figaro’s innovation to generate World Cup visual summaries worked faster than any human. Dubbed Mondial Stories, the automated stories provide all the information someone needs to review a game as if they had watched the entire match.
Automation is a great tool, because the summaries do not require extra expenses, have low maintenance, it is an objective tool, and has potential for future sponsorships.
AI and automation cannot fully take over the human component of reporting on games, because they are just machines. However, they can enhance the viewer experience, increase commerce opportunities, and there are other ideas that have yet to be explored.
Whitney Grace, November 19, 2018
IBM Watson: Now Tackling Travel Costs
November 13, 2018
Machine learning and artificial intelligence is really making a dent on corporate waste. Those interested in the bottom line are sitting up and taking notice. We discovered one inventive way to shed a few pounds of corporate flab from a recent IT News Africa story, “TravelPort, IBM Launch AI Travel Platform.”
According to the story:
“Delivered via the IBM Cloud, the platform uses IBM Watson capabilities to intelligently track, manage, predict and analyze travel costs in one place to fundamentally change how companies manage and optimize their travel programs… The new platform features advanced artificial intelligence, and provides cognitive computing, predictive data analytics using “what-if” type scenarios, and integrated travel and expense data.”
While corporate travel might not seem like it will change your life personally, unless you own a globetrotting company, it provides insight into a bigger picture. Take, for example, how oncology is slashing costs with AI with technology that detects cancer more accurately than human eyes. There is seemingly no end to ways in which AI can help pull a company from the red to the black. Even public services, like courtrooms, have begun using this tech to speed up the sentencing process. Watch for this to seep into your world, even if you don’t expect it.
Those surprising IBM Watson folks. Talented.
Patrick Roland, November 13, 2018
Quantum Computing for Your Office?
November 13, 2018
I read “Inside IBM’s Zurich Lab, Where Scientists are Banking on Being the First to Crack the Quantum Code.” The write up is okay as descriptions of the next big thing in computers go. Quantum computing will, so the assertion flows, will render existing crypto security methods obsolete.
That is indeed true. The issue is when. One conference organizers told me a coupled of months ago, “I’m all in on quantum computing.” When one considers that this individual offers training to law enforcement and security personnel, it may be a while before the technology becomes available and in a form factor that fits into an office setting.
The most interesting part of the article is that it provides some insight into the physical structure of the IBM quantum computer. Here’s a snap of part of the gizmo from the write up:
Can you see this parked next to the vending machines?
Not shown in the picture are the cooling units which emit constant clamoring, whirring noise.
The hardware required for the IBM Q Experience is formidable.
As Eletimes.com pointed out:
It would be tempting to conclude from all this that the basic problems are solved in principle and the path to a future of ubiquitous quantum computing is now just a matter of engineering. But that would be a mistake. The fundamental physics of quantum computing is far from solved and can’t be readily disentangled from its implementation.
It will be a few years before quantum computing finds its way to Harrod’s Creek. But hyperbole travels faster and farther.
Stephen E Arnold, November 13, 2018
Watson: A Barbie?
November 9, 2018
IBM’s Watson is starting to remind me of Barbie. Why is Watson reminding me of the popular doll?
Watson, like Barbie, has had many interests and careers. She embraces fashion styles and, apparently, so does, Watson.
Watson moonlights as a chef, race car driver, medical worker, sports commentator, fan guide, hotel concierge, professor, and many more. Yes, we know that Watson is a sophisticated machine learning AI, while Barbie is a toy.
However, the similarities are uncanny. Biz Journals shares how Watson is now being used as a tennis coach: “IBM’s Watson, AI Now Involved In Coaching Top Players In Tennis.”
Watson has been deployed in many sports to create the ultimate fan experience, but now players are using them to improve their game. The US Tennis Association (USTA) is using Watson’s advanced AI to watch thousands of tennis videos to create customized reports for pro and junior players. AI is very powerful because it can track metadata, form patterns, and objectively analyze it. IBM and the USTA are both happy with Watson:
“ ‘We are treating video really like a rich data source,’ said Elizabeth O’Brien, program director, IBM Sports & Entertainment Partnerships. ‘How can we actually see all the things that are hidden in video and turn that into data.’
Martin Blackman, the USTA’s general manager of player development, said the data has helped create a new statistic that measures acceleration and deceleration of players. ‘We are able with Watson to look at a player’s acceleration, movement and speed over the course of the match and show them how their court position improves when they are moving at an optimal level,’ he said.”
Before Watson, human taggers used to manually watch footage and tag important moves. The entire process took two hours, while Watson can digest the footage in two minutes. The USTA can deliver instant feedback to players.
Watson’s uses appear to be endless and can save hundreds of human work hours. Now that time can be used on something else, such as improving your backhand.
I had a Barbie when I was much younger. That Barbie wore a tennis outfit and had a tiny racket. Racket?
Whitney Grace, November 9, 2018
MIT: IBM a Go To Player in AI School
November 8, 2018
I found this item from AI Dreams quite interesting. I learned:
“As MIT’s partner in shaping the future of AI, IBM is excited by this new initiative,” says Ginni Rometty IBM chairman, president, and CEO. “The establishment of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing is an unprecedented investment in the promise of this technology. It will build powerfully on the pioneering research taking place through the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab. Together, we will continue to unlock the massive potential of AI and explore its ethical and economic impacts on society.”
MIT = Big Blue?
Stephen E Arnold, November 8, 2018
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