Turning
to computers for quick answers is nothing new. Routinely, we turn to calculators
and Google for answers. This is because computers can process data faster than
our brains can and do not run the risk of messing up any complex calculations.
Using computers we can also quickly compare data from many different sources.
This is exactly cancer centers have turned to Watson for assistance. Cancer
centers including the Maine Center for Cancer Medicine and the Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City have turned to IBM’s Watson for
assistance in diagnosing and treating cancer patients.
Dr.
Mark Kris of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center states that once a
cancer patient is identified, they are prescribed two drugs out of 16 possible
drugs to help combat the cancer. However this results in over 200 possible
combinations of drugs that can be prescribed to the patient. Finding the right
combination for a specific patient can take some time. Using Watson the cancer
centers hope to decrease the time it takes to select the two drugs as well as
increase the effectiveness of the combination for that particular patient.
Turning
to supercomputers and cloud computers for the complex problems is nothing new. However
it seems that turning to these types of computers is becoming the norm more and
more. Already people turn to Google’s search engine for answers to questions.
Want to know the answer to that complex math problem, Google it. Want to know
why black holes form, Google it. Similarly Siri from Apple and soon IBM’s Ask
Watson also answer our questions. No longer do we go the library and look up
these answers in books or take out a calculator and solve the equation for
ourselves. Instead we let the computers do the thinking for us.
While I
hope that the drug combinations that Watson provides are cross checked to
verify that there was not any mistakes made, how long will it take for this
cross check to no longer be done? Sites like Google and Wolfram-Alpha provide a
way for complex mathematical equations to be solved. However many people do not
even think to check the computer, just assuming that it did not make a mistake. The sad truth is already some people trust everything that they see on the internet. If they were to Google colored elephants and find a Photoshoped picture
of a neon green elephant they would take it as undeniable proof that green
elephants exist. While luckily those people are currently few and far between,
slowly but surely we are turning more of our thinking over to computers and
accepting the answers they give us.
Some
people may say that we are not giving our power of thought away to computers;
that they just provide answers and it is up to us to analyze and synthesize the
results. For now they are correct. However, as mechanisms like Watson become
more and more advanced they will also be capable of the synthesis and analysis
of results and data. And it will only be a matter of time before we stop
performing cross check on the results we are given.
This was an interesting post. As humans it's definitely in our nature to look for the easiest way to solve problems, which is why, as you said, we turn to Google for quick answers. I have to agree with you in regard to putting our complete faith in computers. Just because computers can complete tasks faster than we can doesn't mean we shouldn't double check them because you never know when there will be that one time that the computer is slightly off. Plus, we should know better than to give that kind of power to computers given the amount of movies where they take over the world. Skynet anyone?
ReplyDeleteYea I see what you're saying, and I'm pretty guilty of it myself. It definitely easier to just believe whatever you see on the internet. It pays to be subjective though, and look at things on a case by case basis. If I use wolfram alpha to find the derivative of a complex equation, I'm not going to second guess it.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I was recently Googling to try to figure out which type of coffee has more caffeine - light roast or dark roast. I was expecting a quick, definitive answer. However, what I got was a multitude of articles explaining the process of roasting a coffee bean and brewing coffee. I found myself more educated on the subject and equipped to make the determination on my own, using information obtained from a computer.