• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

The solution, from a purely practical view, is to fine-tune the mind for the jobs and skills in which the Watsons of the world still struggle: the generation of ideas, concepts, art, and humor. Yet even in these areas, the boundaries between humans and their machines are subject to change. When Watson and its kin scour databases to come up with hypotheses, they’re taking a step toward the realm of ideas. And when Watson’s avatar builder, Joshua Davis, creates his works of generative art, who’s to say that the computer doesn’t have a hand in the design? In the end, each of us will calibrate our own blends of intelligence and creativity, looking for more help, as the years pass, from ever-smarter computers.

But just because we’re living with these machines doesn’t mean that we have to program ourselves by their remorseless logic. Our minds, after all, are far more than tools. In the end, some of us may choose to continue hoarding facts. We are curious animals, after all. Beyond that, one purpose of smart machines is to free us up to do the thousand and one things that only humans enjoy, from singing and swimming to falling in love. These are the opportunities that come from belonging to a species—our species—as it gets smarter. It has its upside.

Acknowledgments

A year ago, I was anxiously waiting for a response to a book proposal. I had high hopes for it, and was disappointed when my marvelous editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Amanda Cook, told me to look for another project. We’d find something better, she said. It turned out she was right. I’m thankful for her guidance in this book. She’s had a clear vision for it all along. Her notes in the margins of the manuscript are snippets of pure intelligence. Not long ago I scanned one of these Amanda-infested pages and e-mailed it to a few friends just to show them how a great editor works—and how fortunate I am to have one.

I applaud the entire team at Houghton, which turned itself inside out to publish this book on a brutal schedule and to innovate with the e-book. If it had settled for the lollygagging schedule I outlined in my proposal, this book would be showing up in stores six months after Watson’s televised Jeopardy match. Thanks to Laura Brady, Luise Erdmann, Taryn Roeder, Ayesha Mizra, Bruce Nichols, Lori Glazer, Laurie Brown, Brian Moore, Becky Saikia-Wilson, Nicola Fairhead, and all the other people at Houghton who helped produce this book in record time. Thanks also to my wonderful agent, Jim Levine, and the entire team at Levine-Greenberg.

I remember calling Michael Loughran at IBM on a winter evening and suggesting that this Jeopardy machine might make a good book. He was receptive that night, and remained so throughout. He was juggling four or five jobs at the same time and tending to a number of constituencies, from the researchers in the IBM’s War Room to the various marketing teams in Manhattan and the television executives in Culver City. Yet he found time for me and made this book possible. Thanks, too, to his colleagues at IBM, including Scott Brooks, Noah Syken, Ed Barbini, and my great friend and former BusinessWeek colleague Steve Hamm. I also appreciate the help and insights from the team at Ogilvy & Mather, especially David Korchin and Miles Gilbert, who brought Watson’s avatar to life for me.

The indispensable person, of course, was David Ferrucci. If it’s not clear in the book how open, articulate, and intelligent he is, I failed as a writer. He was my guide, not only to Watson’s brain, but to the broader world of knowledge. He was generous with his time and his team. I’m thankful to all of them for walking me through every aspect of their creation. My questions had to try their patience, yet they never let it show.

Harry Friedman welcomed me to the fascinating world of Jeopardy and introduced me to a wonderful cast of characters, including Rocky Schmidt and the unflappable Alex Trebek. Thanks to them all and to Grant Loud, who was always there to answer my calls. I owe a load of New Jersey hospitality to my California hosts,