Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1081695
40 I ICT TODAY capabilities of an oncologist, High may drop the term augmented intelligence in recognition that Watson has become a truly high level artificial intelligence system. Will the patient, however, trust Dr. Watson, the physician that would forever lack the ability to sympathize and empathize? Other terms often used synonymously with AI include machine learning, informatics and knowledge-based system. These terms were introduced by AI research universities to continue receiving grants when government funding specifically for AI grants went dry in the 1980s. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: THE RESURGENCE OF AN OLD TECHNOLOGY Ask anyone to cite examples of AI and the answers, especially among Millennials, would likely include Alexa, Google Home (AI is minimally used for voice recognition and some machine learning), robotics, and drone technology. Most everyone would answer the autonomous car or vehicle. Many, if not most, would consider these as breakthroughs in current technology. For the evolution of the autonomous vehicle, they would be nearly 100 years off. In 1921, the military introduced the first, and perhaps ugliest, unmanned radio-controlled vehicle that strolled the streets of Dayton, Ohio as shown in Figure 1. Subsequently, Francis P. Houdina, an Army engineer, unveiled his driverless American Wonder, a 1926 Chandler sedan (Figure 2) that captured radio signals to operate FIGURE 1: The RCA radio-controlled car. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons). Source: Discover Magazine.com. is potentially more dangerous than nukes—caused some companies to thwart the gloom and doom associated with the term "artificial intelligence," made worse by the resurfacing of renowned scientist Stephen Hawking's claim that full AI and efforts to create thinking machines could spell the end of the human race. IBM, heavily invested in AI and healthcare with the Watson cognitive system, introduced the term "augmented intelligence." However, when analyzing Watson for IBM's oncology program, it is evident that the system is based on cognitive computing, because it "assists" the physician in making his/her own patient treatment decisions. "A true artificial intelligence system would have 'told' the oncologist which course of action and treatment to take based on its analysis of a huge database of medical information." 5 At the 2016 Watson Analyst Day, Rob High, IBM's CTO for Watson explained, "What it's really about is involvement of a human in the loop," and he described Watson as "augmented intelligence" rather than artificial intelligence. 6 "Watson has bigger ambitions than a clinician's assistant, however. Its medical knowledge is around that of a first year medical student, according to IBM, and the company hopes to have Watson pass the general medical licensing board exams in the not too distant future." 7 Upon graduation when Watson has the equivalent knowledge and decision making