IBM confident that costly AI projects will prove lucrative
IBM's investment in AI for healthcare is proving costly, even in view of a string of successful innovations, according to Gartner research fellow Tom Austin. The company's investment in systems such as Watson, which analyses patient data to develop personalised treatment plans, could be a game changer; however, such ambitious, customised projects come at a cost, with long time frames and no guarantee of success. Nevertheless, IBM believes its investment in Watson and other forms of AI could prove to be highly lucrative.

Watson, can you grow into a multibillion-dollar business and become the engine of IBM’s resurgence?

IBM is betting its future that the answer is yes. Its campaign to commercialize Watson, the company’s version of artificial intelligence technology, stands out, even during the current A.I. frenzy in the tech industry.

IBM has invested billions of dollars in its Watson business unit, created at the start of 2014, which now employs an estimated 10,000 workers. Its big-ticket marketing push includes clever television ads that feature Watson trading quips with famous people like Serena Williams and Bob Dylan. And Watson, after a slow start, has shown its mettle by assisting in daunting tasks like diagnosing cancer.

Yet industry experts question how quickly IBM can build a business around Watson. “IBM has pursued big, bespoke moonshot initiatives that can take years and are extremely expensive,” said Tom Austin, a research fellow at Gartner. “It seems like they’re swimming upstream with that.”

Adapting Watson technology to industries like health care and manufacturing, IBM insists, was always going to be a long-term commitment — and one that began shortly after Watson beat human champions on the quiz show “Jeopardy!” in 2011.