Could IBM's Watson Be A Cockpit Mentor?

IBM has been extensively involved in almost all phases of airline information technology. Now it is moving to use the formidable question-answering capabilities of Watson and new techniques like Natural Language Processing, Cognitive Computing and Machine Learning to help pilots deal with maintenance challenges in flight, according to Brad Clossen, senior managing consultant. "We already help customer service agents, flight attendants, pilots and technical staff," the IBM executive says. "The next step is cognitive computing." The remarkable Watson can understand questions phrased in natural human language; it does not require input to adhere to rigid computer grammar.