IBM 日前在位于美國(guó)紐約州的IBM Research舉行的一場(chǎng)感知系統(tǒng)研討會(huì)(Cognitive Systems Colloquium，CSC)上，迎接了所謂的“感知運(yùn)算時(shí)代”。 在該場(chǎng)研討會(huì)上，IBM為新成立的感知系統(tǒng)研究所(Cognitive System Institute)揭幕，該研究所是多所大學(xué)、研究機(jī)構(gòu)與IBM客戶的合作計(jì)劃，旨在推動(dòng)先進(jìn)的感知運(yùn)算研發(fā)，并以四所大學(xué)的團(tuán)隊(duì)為基礎(chǔ)：卡內(nèi)基美隆大學(xué)(Carnegie Mellon University，CMU)、麻省理工學(xué)院(MIT)、紐約大學(xué)(NYU)、倫斯勒理工學(xué)院(Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute，RPI)。 IBM打造模仿人腦感知功能計(jì)算機(jī)的歷史悠久，其“深藍(lán)(Deep Blue)”平臺(tái)在1997年打敗了國(guó)際象棋冠軍Garry Kasparov；在2011年，IBM的“華生(Watson)”叢集式超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)則在知名的電視益智問(wèn)答節(jié)目Jeopardy上，擊敗兩位人類冠軍Brad Rutter 與Ken Jennings。 擔(dān)任IBM Research 全球大學(xué)計(jì)劃總監(jiān)的Jim Spohrer在接受EETimes美國(guó)版訪問(wèn)時(shí)表示：“在IBM的華生贏得Jeopardy節(jié)目冠軍之后，許多大學(xué)都與我們聯(lián)系，表示想與我們?cè)谶@個(gè)感知運(yùn)算新時(shí)代合作，而今日我們很高興地宣布，我們?cè)谶@個(gè)領(lǐng)域的活動(dòng)又更進(jìn)一步?！? IBM已經(jīng)將感知計(jì)算機(jī)“華生”應(yīng)用于醫(yī)療照護(hù)、金融服務(wù)等領(lǐng)域，結(jié)合深度數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)搜尋與智能圖形匹配(pattern matching)算法，為人類專家提供實(shí)時(shí)性的建議；現(xiàn)在IBM則將藉由與產(chǎn)、官、學(xué)界單位合作，進(jìn)一步擴(kuò)大其感知計(jì)算機(jī)的功能──其共同目標(biāo)就是打造出采用自然語(yǔ)言與人腦仿真算法的感知計(jì)算機(jī)，在各個(gè)應(yīng)用領(lǐng)域提升人類智能。

IBM的“華生(Watson)”叢集式超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)
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“在感知運(yùn)算領(lǐng)域即將有大事發(fā)生，會(huì)比“華生”更厲害；我們今日在此的原因是這個(gè)計(jì)劃比整個(gè)IBM公司還大?！皡⑴cCSC的另一位IBM Research總監(jiān)John Kelly III表示：“第一個(gè)運(yùn)算時(shí)代是將人類任務(wù)自動(dòng)化，而現(xiàn)在這個(gè)新時(shí)代則完全不同，是有關(guān)于將人類的能力微縮并放大，人與機(jī)器之間的界線將越來(lái)越模糊，兩者之間的偕同效應(yīng)將發(fā)光發(fā)熱?！? IBM已經(jīng)與全球數(shù)千所大學(xué)進(jìn)行合作，但其新成立的感知系統(tǒng)研究所將贊助特定的幾所大學(xué)，開發(fā)可實(shí)現(xiàn)更聰明、對(duì)使用者更友善的感知計(jì)算機(jī)所需之特定功能。上述四所第一批加入該研究所的大學(xué)將在今年取得資金，并在明年分享采用Power架構(gòu)處理器與華生開放源碼軟件堆棧的研發(fā)成果。 其中由教授Thomas Malone率領(lǐng)的MIT團(tuán)隊(duì)，將專注于開發(fā)所謂的社會(huì)技術(shù)(socio-technical tools)工具與應(yīng)用程序，可提升參與共同任務(wù)的工作群體之表現(xiàn)，例如進(jìn)行決策。藉由更緊密地連結(jié)人與計(jì)算機(jī)，MIT的研究目標(biāo)是讓人-機(jī)結(jié)合的工作表現(xiàn)，優(yōu)于任何人或計(jì)算機(jī)單獨(dú)達(dá)成的工作成果。 “隨著這個(gè)世界因?yàn)槭褂猛ㄓ嵓夹g(shù)而互連程度越來(lái)越高，將所有的人與計(jì)算機(jī)視為一個(gè)“地球腦”，可能會(huì)很實(shí)用；“Malone在 CSC上表示：“有可能我們這個(gè)物種的生存，將會(huì)是仰賴結(jié)合人類與機(jī)器的智能，做出不只是聰明、也要明智的抉擇?！? 此外由教授Selmer Bringsjord所率領(lǐng)的RPI團(tuán)隊(duì)，將利用IBM在處理性能、資料可取得性，以及包括語(yǔ)義(semantic)資料工具在內(nèi)的“智能”算法進(jìn)展，開發(fā)各種人工智能技術(shù)。由教授Eric Nyberg率領(lǐng)的CMU團(tuán)隊(duì)，則將專注于分析元素(analytic components)的快速建設(shè)、最佳化與實(shí)時(shí)采用，例如能直接與使用者互動(dòng)的個(gè)人化信息媒介。 由紐約大學(xué)資深副教務(wù)長(zhǎng)Paul Horn率領(lǐng)的NYU團(tuán)隊(duì)，將開發(fā)自動(dòng)化圖形認(rèn)知(pattern recognition)算法，以反映利用神經(jīng)元網(wǎng)絡(luò)進(jìn)行的深度學(xué)習(xí)，將如何對(duì)科學(xué)產(chǎn)生沖擊。IBM Research的Spohrer表示，以上那些新感知系統(tǒng)，將大幅加快相關(guān)研發(fā)的進(jìn)展。 “我們到目前為止所開發(fā)的感知技術(shù)就像是鏟子，那些新工具會(huì)像是推土機(jī)，讓我們能做更多事情，像是能擴(kuò)增人類能力的決策支持系統(tǒng)?！盨pohrer指出：“以全球性大學(xué)的角度來(lái)看，我們所教授的方法也將帶來(lái)深遠(yuǎn)的影響，就像計(jì)算器改變學(xué)生做算術(shù)習(xí)題的方式，感知計(jì)算機(jī)也將讓高等教育轉(zhuǎn)型。” 除了擴(kuò)大“華生”計(jì)算機(jī)的功能，IBM的其它數(shù)個(gè)感知運(yùn)算研究項(xiàng)目也將收歸在新成立的感知系統(tǒng)研究所旗下，包括由DRAPA贊助、打造仿人腦計(jì)算機(jī)芯片的SyNAPSE計(jì)劃。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯：Judith Cheng 參考英文原文：IBM Unveils Cognitive Systems Institute，by R. Colin Johnson

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{pagination} IBM Unveils Cognitive Systems Institute R. Colin Johnson IBM ushered in what it called the "era of cognitive computing" yesterday at the Cognitive Systems Colloquium (CSC) held at IBM Research (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.). At the event, IBM unveiled its newly minted Cognitive Systems Institute, a collaborative effort between universities, research institutes, and IBM clients to advance the state-of-the-art incognitive computing, starting with four major universities: Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), New York University (NYU), and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). As part of this new era of cognitive computing, we wanted to make an announcement today about our Cognitive Systems Institute, which will involve four key universities," said Jim Spohrer, director of global university programs at IBM Research (Almaden, Calif.) in an exclusive interview with EETimes. IBM's long history in building computers that can mimic the cognitive functions of humans began with its Deep Blue platform, which beat then reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. More recently, IBM's Watson cluster supercomputer beat the human champions -- Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings -- on the television quiz show Jeopardy in 2011. "After IBM's Watson won on the game show Jeopardy, many universities contacted us saying they would love to work with us on this new era of cognitive computing, and today we are glad to announce we are scaling up our activities in this area," said Spohrer. IBM has already applied its Watson cognitive computer to applications in healthcare and financial services, where it combines deep database searchers and intelligent pattern matching algorithms that provide realtime advise to human experts. Now IBM aims to generalize its cognitive computer capabilities with collaborative efforts between academic, industry and government research centers whose joint goal is to create cognitive computers that use natural language and brain-emulating algorithms to augment human intelligence in all areas of endeavor. "Something big is happening in cognitive computing. It’s much bigger than Watson. We're here today because this is bigger than us. It's bigger than the IBM company," said John Kelly III, director of IBM Research at CSC. "The first eras of computing were about automating human tasks. This era is fundamentally different. This era will be about scaling and magnifying human capability. The separation between man and machine will blur. The synergy between the two will shine through." IBM already works with thousands of universities worldwide, but its new Cognitive Systems Institute will enlist the help of particular universities to develop specific capabilities needed to realize a smarter more user-friendly type of cognitive computer. The four universities initially joining the Institute will receive funding this year to be followed next year by shared university research awards to include Power architecture servers running a Watson open-source software stack. The MIT team, led by professor Thomas Malone, will concentrate on developing what it calls socio-technical tools and applications that boost the performance of groups of workers engaged in collaborative tasks, such as decision making. By more closely connecting people and computers the MIT effort will aim for combined man-machine performance that is more intelligent than any person, group of computer can achieve alone. "As the world becomes more interconnected through the use of communications technology, it may become useful to view all the people and computers as part of a single global brain," said Malone at CSC. "It's possible that the survival of our species will depend on combining human and machine intelligence to make choices that are not just smart but are also wise." The RPI team, led by professor Selmer Bringsjord, will explore artificial intelligence techniques that take advantage of recent IBM advances in processing power, data availability, and "smart" algorithms including "semantic" data tools. The CMU team, led by professor Eric Nyberg, will concentrate on the rapid construction, optimization, and real-time adaptation of large collections of analytic components, such as personalized information agents that directly interact with users. The NYU team, led by Paul Horn, senior vice provost for research at New York University, will develop automated pattern recognition algorithms that reflect how deep learning using neural networks can impact science. Spohrer said: Our view is that these new cognitive systems will accelerate progress immensely. Up until now we have been using cognitive shovels, but these new tools will be like cognitive bulldozers, enabling us to do a lot more in terms of decision support systems that augment human performance. And from the global university perspective they will also have profound implications regarding the ways we teach. Just as the calculator changed how students did math problems, cognitive computers will transform higher education. IBM's Watson cluster supercomputer beat the human champions on the television quiz show Jeopardy. In addition to expanding the capabilities of IBM's Watson, several other cognitive computing initiatives also fall under the umbrella of the Cognitive Systems Institute, including IBM's attempts to build computer chips modeled on the human brain -- the Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA).