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The Conversation
The Conversation
Caitjan Gainty, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, King's College London

From a 'deranged' provocateur to IBM's failed AI superproject: the controversial story of how data has transformed healthcare

US health data pioneer Ernest Codman at work on his national registry of patient outcomes, 1925. Roy Mabrey/Boston Medical Library

Just over a decade ago, artificial intelligence (AI) made one of its showier forays into the public’s consciousness when IBM’s Watson computer appeared on the American quiz show Jeopardy! The studio audience was made up of IBM employees, and Watson’s exhibition performance against two of the show’s most successful contestants was televised to a national viewership across three evenings. In the end, the machine triumphed comfortably.


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