After Taking on Jeopardy Contestants, IBM’s Watson Super Computer Might Be a Resource for Pathologists
Watson is capable of assessing health data, including medical laboratory test results
When IBM’s Watson “supercomputer” squared off against human contestants on the Jeopardy game show last February, there certainly were some pathologists and clinical laboratory managers watching this “man versus machine” battle of knowledge. But those pathologists and medical lab managers did not realize that IBM intends for Watson to play a major role in helping physicians diagnose and treat disease.
IBM is designing Watson to use analytical algorithms to support how physicians assess information as they evaluate patients. In this role, it is likely that Watson will be fed laboratory test data and evidence-based medicine algorithms as part of the data it draws upon to help physicians more accurately diagnose disease and come up with appropriate treatment plans. (more…)
