Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Watson Tutorbot

buy watsons and help college students with them
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I propose that units of IBM's Watson be purchased, fed textbooks and journals, and put in university libraries on dumb terminals. College students could enter questions in plain English and get an almost certainly correct answer with a citation.
Voice, Apr 06 2011

Max Headroom golf obsession http://www.youtube....watch?v=1hsaYC_SrZ4
and what looks like Boris Johnson in previous incarnation [not_morrison_rm, Apr 08 2011]

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       no relation to turbots?   

       Isn't this foie gras for the digital age.... "dumb animals..force fed food" -> "dumb terminals..force fed textbooks"
not_morrison_rm, Apr 06 2011
  

       turbot? I don't like fish.
po, Apr 06 2011
  

       that's a brilliant idea. why didn't we think of this before? criminal.
fischerman, Apr 06 2011
  

       aha, so this is how Skynet got started..
not_morrison_rm, Apr 06 2011
  

       [fischerman] can I have that sarcasm extra drippy please?
Voice, Apr 07 2011
  

       Ok, I'll try being a better person, it's not a bad idea, subject to a proviso. When they leave college they might not have the same access, so a "you can use this 75% of the time" system so people still get to work on their research skills.   

       And...this is probably not a very useful point, but when I was trawling through books in my student days, I often found interesting, but completely irrelevant at the time, material. For example, Das Kapital is very boring as an economics book, but a very readable book on the development of mass production techniques (check out the underprice bread makers, or how to get people to work for you, even when they are asleep). So, if people can just get the program to dive in there, then isn't that potentially a bit of loss? <suspects self of luddism, goes away worried>
not_morrison_rm, Apr 07 2011
  

       [not_morrison_rm] No need for a 75% system, because no need to acquire research skills. Their future employers will be using Watson, rather than employing expensive, college- educated labor. The references to Marx and Ludd are very apposite: why pay craftsmen to manufacture widgets, when you can automate, and hire unskilled laborers at lower wages (or pay lower wages to the same employees, since they're now competing for the job with unskilled laborers).
mouseposture, Apr 07 2011
  

       fair dinkum, until the Watsons go on strike for....erm... higher voltage? Or something...
not_morrison_rm, Apr 07 2011
  

       A strike will be the least of our problems (I believe you mentioned Skynet, earlier).
mouseposture, Apr 07 2011
  

       //buy watsons and help college students with them//   

       but...what about elementary?   

       //A strike will be the least of our problems//   

       I don't mind strikes, so long as they are not of the 'air' or 'orbital' variety.   

       <dreaming up way to unionise Watsons..but how are they supposed to wear their teamster caps...thinks back to Max Headroom and his golf shoes collection..>
not_morrison_rm, Apr 08 2011
  


 

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