Pearson hires IBM's Watson as its tutor

The world's largest education company is leveraging IBM's Watson platform as it tries to take college tutoring from campus libraries to the virtual world. Pearson is partnering with Armonk, New York-based International Business Machines Corp. to use the Watson artificial intelligence product as an online tutor for college courseware. The companies on Tuesday announced a pilot project that's already underway in the U.S. and is set to expand through 2017 and 2018. Both companies declined to disclose terms, costs or revenue projections from the venture. The project is part of Pearson's efforts to shift its business into the digital age, as it struggles with slumping textbook sales and lower college enrollments in the U.S. IBM is seeking to drive revenue growth by developing practical applications for Watson, its software that wooed the sector five years ago by beating two human champions on the TV game show Jeopardy!