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The Science Behind an Answer

The challenge in building a computer system like Watson lies in developing its ability to understand the language of a clue, register the intent of a question, scour millions of lines of human language, and return a single, precise answer - in less than three seconds.

Find out what is going on inside the Watson mainframe to accomplish this feat.

“We all want to know the right answers to questions. And it isn't the same thing as searching for possibilities or options, which we do everyday.”

Jon Iwata
IBM Senior President, Marketing and Communications