ABSTRACT
I feel a bit like John Henry. I predict that it is only a matter of years before we
will have the first written copy of a fully, computer-authored user’s guide-a
book authored without human intervention and probably published in eBook
format. It will be produced by something like Watson, IBM’s new, massively
parallel computer system. Presently, when given an answer on pretty much any
topic, Watson can produce an accurate question in under a second, and so can
beat even the best Jeopardy! record holders. This is more interesting and less
confusing than it might seem. First as you probably know, Jeopardy! is played
in an oddly reverse manner where contestants provide appropriate questions to
answers presented by the moderator (If the answer is “July 4, 1776,” the question
might be, “When was the Declaration of Independence signed?”)
To facilitate reply to the moderator’s answer with a proper question, Watson
can parse English, understands how humor, pun, and misdirection work and
can make sense from them, has read every important document in the Library
of Congress, and responds appropriately (providing a level of confidence in
terms of percentages). The algorithms for converting that ability to parse lan-
guage into an ability to compose cannot be far behind.
