Background: IBM Watson for Oncology is an artificial intelligence cognitive computing system that provides confidence-ranked, evidence-based treatment recommendations for cancer. In the present study, we examine the level of agreement for lung and colorectal cancer therapy between the multidisciplinary tumour board from Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Bangalore, India, and Watson for Oncology. Methods: Watson for Oncology is a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, USA) trained cognitive computing system that uses natural language processing and machine learning to provide treatment recommendations. It processes structured and unstructured data from medical literature, treatment guidelines, medical records, imaging, lab and pathology reports, and the expertise of Memorial Sloan Kettering experts to formulate therapeutic recommendations. Treatment recommendations are provided in three categories: recommended, for consideration and not recommended.

Surprisingly, Amazon Alexa doesn't have a good way to search for Alexa skills by voice. You can't say that you want to play word games, need a skill to check airport security wait times, or feel like meditating. Alexa doesn't know what to tell you. Amazon released its own "Skill Finder" skill last year, but it's a bare-bones experience that can only read off the most popular apps in certain vague categories, or list the top or newest Alexa skills. You can't ask it for a skill with a specific use case or functionality.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly moving from "nice to have" into "must have" territory for organizations. In fact, nearly six in ten AI early adopters think it will be a necessary element to remain competitive within the next few years. Two-thirds say AI is very important to their organization's strategy and success. AI can be a powerful tool for getting people the right information at the right time for decision making. By augmenting human intelligence and improving planning, AI has the potential to transform workplace productivity.

Jeopardy-winning Watson is getting better and better at designing cancer treatments. New data presented this week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting show that IBM's Watson for Oncology suggests cancer treatments that are often in-line with what physicians recommend. The company also announced that the cancer care product, designed to help physicians diagnose and treat their patients, is being used by nine new medical centers around the world. In a handful of studies being presented at ASCO, researchers show that Watson for Oncology is pretty dang good at recommending treatments for a variety of different cancers. From research done in India, Watson's treatment recommendations were in agreement with those of physicians 96 percent of the time for lung cancer, 93 percent of the time for rectal cancer, and 81 percent of the time for colon cancer.

Summary: Next time you bring up Artificial Intelligence and your non-data scientist friends all say "Watson" here's some perspective you can offer. Their understanding of AI and Watson is very likely to be inaccurate. Here's what you need to know to set them straight. When conversation with my non-data scientist friends turns to AI it's almost inevitable that at least one will remark on the wonders of Watson. To many of the uninformed, Watson is synonymous with AI and clearly it's already here.

US research firm International Data Corporation predicts that by 2020, businesses will spend over $100 billion to protect themselves from hacking, up from the estimated $74 billion budget last year. However, new technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing can reportedly help prevent cyberattacks. Artificial intelligence, for instance, could enhance threat detection, shorten defense response time, and improve ways of distinguishing real efforts from those that can be ignored, the Financial Times noted. "Before artificial intelligence, we'd have to assume that a lot of the data - say 90 percent - is fine. We only would have bandwidth to analyze this 10 percent," Daniel Driver from UK defense group's Chemring Technology Solution said. IBM is also developing its own AI security platform called Watson.

Digital business platform provider Magnolia formed a partnership with IBM in 2015 to integrate with its IBM Marketing Cloud. With the integration, Magnolia users could incorporate the email marketing, lead management and mobile engagement solutions the platform provided into their daily workflows. When Armonk, NY-based IBM folded its Marketing Cloud under the broader umbrella of Watson Marketing in March, the capabilities expanded, which meant good news for Magnolia users. By installing the Magnolia Silverpop Module, Magnolia customers with a Watson Marketing account can plug their Magnolia instances into IBM Watson, bringing further capabilities for personalized content delivery based on scoring models derived from visitor behavior. IBM Watson can, "analyze and interpret all of your data, including unstructured text, images, audio and video [with the aim of] providing personalized recommendations by understanding a user's personality, tone and emotion."

In January this year, a Japanese insurance firm replaced 34 of its employees with an AI system based on IBM Watson. One of the reasons why IBM Watson is so important is because IBM has opened Watson up to businesses and developers. IBM opened up Watson application programming interfaces in 2015, allowing developers to use the cloud-based artificial intelligence system with their own programs. Cognitive intelligence, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality all present opportunities for businesses to serve their customers in new and exciting ways.

In January this year, a Japanese insurance firm replaced 34 of its employees with an AI system based on IBM Watson. One of the reasons why IBM Watson is so important is because IBM has opened Watson up to businesses and developers. IBM opened up Watson application programming interfaces in 2015, allowing developers to use the cloud-based artificial intelligence system with their own programs. Cognitive intelligence, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality all present opportunities for businesses to serve their customers in new and exciting ways.

IBM Watson Group opened a $200 million Internet of Things (IoT) headquarters today in Munich, Germany, what the company is calling its biggest investment in Europe in more than two decades. There more than 1,000 IBM engineers and designers will work with IBM clients and partners in what IBM Watson general manager Harriet Green called a "collaboratory." Watson works with 6,000 clients worldwide, according to the company. "This is more than a ribbon cutting or a ceremony. This is an industry moment. We think it is a turning point because at IBM we have always believed that there is only one way to fill the potential of this truly transformational technology, and that is together," Green said today at Genius of Things Summit, a gathering of press, the IoT team, and more than 400 business partners.