IBM’s supercomputer ‘Watson’ will be used to mine tweets from the 500 million daily twitter messages in an effort to allow the machine to monitor what is happening across the vast quantities of content being generated. Additionally, users will be able to ask questions to the machine about what is occurring around the “Twitterverse.” This effort is being undertaken by IBM’s business clients and Twitter in an attempt to make money from those who desire a deeper look into deeper analysis of Twitter trends.
Information such as this, according to this article from NBC News, can be used to determine if a type of running shoe is popular, or even more abstractly, if a deep fryer maker wants to know if people are upset about receiving soggy french fries from businesses that received new lines of frying products.
There is speculation that a move such as this is a step by IBM toward filling a gap in the industry between corporate buyers and silicon valley tech companies. This is a great example of how large computing and monitoring systems can be utilized to increase effectiveness of advertising companies, discover new insights into markets, and expand the capabilities of various businesses to analyze their data. As an incentive for discussion: what other supercomputing analyses have been conducted recently, and how has it affected businesses on Wall Street?
UM SI/HON/PHYS 365: Cyberscience, Fall 2014 