Humans vs. Machines

Like million other Jeopardy fans, I too watched the show last week. It was a special edition of this popular quiz show in which a super computer, Watson, challenged two top Jeopardy champions, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. A joint effort of twenty five learned engineers over a four-year period made Watson, named after IBM’s founder Thomas J. Watson, a reality.

To me, a foreigner in the land of computer science, it’s awesome to see what smart people can do. Through maybe millions of motherboards, chips, and many other peripheral parts, they transplanted human intelligence into a cold steel box. In this case, they groomed Watson with boundless of detailed information. In addition to his deft ability to listen, to speak and to choose clue categories, it appeared he could also push the buzzer quicker than any others. I remembered hearing that having a fast thumb is a must for the contestants of this fast-paced quiz contest. So it is not a big surprise for many of us to see Watson became the latest champion of the favorite American quiz show. After all it is a brain child of twenty five very smart persons.

Putting aside the extraordinary entertainment and advertising value of this brains versus brains contest, the task of Watson’s creators does not end here. Now I am counting on them and their competitors to come up with new generations of computer systems that are friendly to both the users and their environment. - Ayee

Gold-plated Health Cares

A couple of months ago, on a sunny morning I tripped over an uneven sidewalk and required emergency cares. Contrary to all the horrible stories I heard on unsatisfactory yet costly health cares, the timely treatment I received from a local hospital was nothing but professional. And I am sure that four subsequent visits to a specialist and many x-rays during the month after the initial emergency care had also helped me recover quickly from this minor injury.

Certainly I have no qualms on the competent cares I had received at that hospital. I am also grateful for having a reliable medical plan to fall back on when I need it. But I do remember a previous emergency room visit about three decades ago. During a night I spent at the hospital ward and following six or seven weeks I hobbled on one good leg, I did not remember that I had the cares from that many medical professionals.

But on that day during the six hours I was at the hospital, I was provided with cares from at least ten hospital staffs that included a most apologetic doctor. Each of the staff members performed their specialized assignment on me. The care team of the day included receptionists, nurses, nurse-aides, and technicians. They admitted me, x-rated me, wheeled me, and prepared me for intravenous drips. In addition before I was discharged, a group of four led by the aforementioned physician set a clay cast over the broken bones while I was sedated.

When I was on the gurney waiting for treatment, many thoughts, mostly depressing ones, came upon me. One of them was why healthy care costs had risen so much over the years. At this time our health insurance premium is still affordable. But it may reach to a point when we no longer can afford to be sick.

On that eventful day I had certainly wondered and was somewhat convinced that fine division of labor and specialization in care are not the best prescriptions to rein in the exorbitant amount of money we, both the government and the patients, must spend on health related services. - Ayee

To Susie and Her Many Kennel Mates: May You All Rest in Peace!

Nearly one year after the 2010 winter Olympics, an animal cruelty case is now under police investigation in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

A gruesome story of the killing of healthy sled dogs surfaced recently in this picturesque ski resort. It happened in April of last year not long after the Olympic crowd had left the town. A sled-dog ride operator decided to cull the dogs they did not want to keep. If not for an insurance claim filed by the individual who did the slaughtering, no one will ever know that 100 lively dogs were put through agonizing pain and fear before their grisly death.

While the outcome of the government investigation of the matter is anyone’s guess, no justice can undo the fact that this is a preventable tragedy. Even though these working dogs are no pets, they deserve as much caring and kind consideration as their human counterparts when retiring from their work place. Therefore, it is so unthinkable that someone would take upon himself to expedite the "firing" of his many workmates in such a horrible manner.

This distasteful story has certainly reflected the dog’s owner, the operator of the sled dog ride business, badly. It also prompts many of us to ask these questions.

Why there was no one steps up before this wanton act was about to happen? Where was the vet who refused to help before the inhumane cull? And where were the animal protection agencies who suppose to speak for the ones who cannot speak for themselves?

It appears to me most of the animal cruelty cases came to public knowledge after the fact. By that time the horses have already left the barn. - Ayee