cognitive computing
In plain wordsA label, promoted heavily by IBM in the 2010s, for computer systems that learn, reason and interact with people in humanlike ways. It was largely a marketing term and has given way to 'AI'.
A term, used mainly in the 2010s, for computing systems meant to help people with complex, ambiguous problems by bringing together natural language processingnatural language processing, n.: The field that teaches computers to handle human language — to read, interpret, translate, summarize and produce text and speech. It is one of the oldest and largest areas of artificial intelligence., machine learningmachine learning, n.: A way of building software that learns from examples instead of following rules written by a programmer. Shown thousands of labeled photos, for instance, a program can learn to recognize cats., automated reasoning and human–computer interaction. Its leading proponent was IBM, which after IBM WatsonIBM Watson, prop. n.: An IBM question-answering computer that beat two champions of the US quiz show Jeopardy! in 2011. IBM then sold business AI products under the Watson name, many of which disappointed.'s 2011 Jeopardy! victory presented cognitive computing as a new era succeeding tabulating machines and programmable computers, and reorganized much of its business around the label. An earlier, narrower use named brain-inspired hardware research such as the DARPA SyNAPSE program (from 2008), which produced IBM's TrueNorth neuromorphicneuromorphic computing, n.: Computer chips designed to work more like brains, with artificial neurons that send brief spikes only when needed, aiming to do AI tasks with far less energy. chip. The term never had a precise technical meaning; critics saw it as a rebranding of AI for corporate customers, and it faded in the late 2010s as 'AI' itself became commercially attractive again.
The 2015 sales deck promised cognitive computing; today the same slide would just say AI.
Origin
Used for brain-inspired computing in the 2000s, notably by Dharmendra Modha's group at IBM Research–Almaden, and popularized as an IBM marketing theme from about 2011, as in John E. Kelly III and Steve Hamm's book Smart Machines: IBM's Watson and the Era of Cognitive Computing (2013).
Related
- IBM WatsonIBM Watson, prop. n.: An IBM question-answering computer that beat two champions of the US quiz show Jeopardy! in 2011. IBM then sold business AI products under the Watson name, many of which disappointed.
- AI hypeAI hype, n.: Exaggerated claims about what AI can do or will soon do, made to attract money, attention or customers, which can mislead the public and policymakers.
- AI washingAI washing, n.: Falsely claiming that a product or company uses AI, or exaggerating how much it does, to look more advanced and attract customers or investors.
- neuromorphic computingneuromorphic computing, n.: Computer chips designed to work more like brains, with artificial neurons that send brief spikes only when needed, aiming to do AI tasks with far less energy.
- expert systemexpert system, n.: A program that stores a human specialist's know-how as many if–then rules and uses them to give advice or make decisions in a narrow field, such as diagnosing infections or configuring computers.
Mentioned in
IBM WatsonIBM Watson, prop. n.: An IBM question-answering computer that beat two champions of the US quiz show Jeopardy! in 2011. IBM then sold business AI products under the Watson name, many of which disappointed., IBM ResearchIBM Research, prop. n.: The research division of the computer company IBM, behind landmark AI systems such as the chess champion Deep Blue and the quiz-show winner Watson.