Summary: IBM's Watson now to do your taxes at H&R Block? This is a good opportunity to explore the differences between Question Answering Machines (Watson) and Expert Systems. If you were paying attention during the Super Bowl you saw something unprecedented, an advertisement aimed at data scientists. It was the H&R Block announcement that it was rolling out IBM's Watson to all 80,000 of its tax preparers. So far we've seen Watson deployed primarily on more complex and obscure data like chemical reactions, cancer diagnoses, and environmental engineering.

First IBM's Watson supercomputer took on Jeopardy and now it's ready to do your taxes. Or, so the TV ads running in heavy rotation these days would have you believe. Fact is, folks walking into their local tax preparer's office will not be handing over their W-2s to R2-D2 anytime soon. However, H&R Block's much-hyped partnership with IBM has shed some light on what the real role of artificial intelligence will be in the business world. In a nutshell, H&R Block has installed computer screens on its preparers' desks that are powered by IBM Watson.

Wherever you fall along these lines, you want to make sure that your taxes are accurately being prepared to ensure that you experience no issues with the IRS. H&R Block has introduced a new partnership with IBM Watson to bring its customers a new and improved tax preparation experience. Watson is an artificial intelligence technology that continuously learns from the data fed into its system. As more customers' tax information is processed by Watson, it will apply the knowledge it has retained in order to give tax preparers the best advice for their customers. The technology is so in-depth because it was given a large amount of data about tax laws and codes, allowing it to gain deeper insight into the varied situations that affect an individual's tax return.

As we are in the beginning of tax season, millions of Americans are eager to learn what this tax season holds for them. For many Americans tax season is officially their Christmas -- a big refund is what they are anticipating. For others, they just want to break even so they do not owe any money to the IRS. Wherever you fall along these lines, you want to make sure that your taxes are accurately being prepared to ensure that you experience no issues with the IRS. H&R Block has introduced a new partnership with IBM Watson to bring its customers a new and improved tax preparation experience.