My Jeopardy! Strategy Advice To IBM - Part 9

Ed Toutant Report on Watson Jeopardy! Visit – September 17, 2010

IBM IMAGE, OBJECTIVES, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

It will be important to manage public perceptions and expectations.  If Watson wins, many people will think, “So what?”  They don’t realize how complicated it is to play Jeopardy!  They probably think it’s harder to play chess, and IBM already solved that challenge years ago.  Most people can watch Jeopardy! at home and answer some of the questions, so it seems pretty easy.  Far fewer people think they can play chess well, so they may assume that chess is a harder task.  The presentation that David Ferrucci gave before the matches opened a lot of eyes and minds.  It clearly explained the many processes that must be mastered in order to play a good game of Jeopardy!, and how those abilities can be extended in the future to solve more critical problems in the real world.  IBM will need to widely publicize those points before the Jeopardy! Challenge broadcast, to help the public appreciate Watson’s accomplishments and have a positive view of the benefits that his technology can bring to their lives.

Based on what I saw, the outcome of the Jeopardy! Challenge is hard to predict.  Watson plays a strong game, but he has shown that he can be beaten, at his current level of performance.  IBM needs to be prepared for a range of possible outcomes.  What is the message (or PR spin) if Watson loses badly, as he did against Alan Bailey?  (Yes, I know that it was really a close match, but to the public, a final score of $60,800 to $1,000 sounds like a rout.)  What is the message if Watson loses a close match, or ties, or wins a close match?  And what if Watson totally humiliates his human opponents?  Is that the best possible outcome, or would it make Watson seem too much like a villain?

The general public will be rooting against Watson.  It’s inevitable that humans will cheer for their own kind.  People naturally like an underdog, or someone who has to overcome difficult obstacles, or who has a pleasant personality.  It may be possible for Watson to attract a lot of supporters if he can be somewhat anthropomorphized, imbued with some of those same human characteristics.  There are many ways to set the stage in the weeks leading up to the Jeopardy! broadcast, and even during the show itself.  I loved it when Watson expressed himself the way a real contestant would, saying things like “please,” “let’s finish the category,” and “let’s make it a true Daily Double.”  I think the public will appreciate that, and I believe there are opportunities to expand his repertoire of human-like phrases.  Watson would be even more impressive if he appeared to have a personality and a sense of humor.  I think it would be hilarious if he ever had a chance to say, “I’ve always wanted to say this, Alex, let’s make it a true Daily Double.”  If the show follows the usual format, there will be a break during the first round in which Alex chats with the contestants.  I’m not sure if that would work for Watson, but maybe he could use the opportunity to show a short video of how he became so smart and all of the obstacles he had to overcome along the way.  I don’t know who Watson’s opponents will be, but I assume that one of them will be Ken Jennings.  Ken is a good guy, but he is not universally loved by the general public.  If Ken can be portrayed as an unbeatable superhuman Juggernaut, Watson may pick up a lot of the underdog support.  Some people would just like to see Ken lose, regardless of the opponent.

I think it would be helpful if Watson had more of an instantly recognizable image, which could become an important brand or trademark for the IBM company.  I’m sorry if this hurts anyone’s feelings, but the hologram that was used to represent Watson did nothing at all for me.  I didn’t hate it, but it didn’t leave any lasting impression.  It didn’t attract the eye or grab much attention.  I don’t remember it and I don’t think I’d recognize it if I saw it again today.  Technical nerds and the general public relate more to a fun logo than to an abstract shape.  Since the goal is to show that Watson can think like a human, I think Watson’s icon or avatar should incorporate some human qualities.  With the right image, it’s not far-fetched to think that Watson could become a cult hero, symbolizing a new era in which computers work collaboratively with their human colleagues on everyday tasks.  He needs a friendly, likeable image that matches that role, an image that techies will want to wear on t-shirts along with their Google doodles, Linux penguins, and Apple logos.  It’s all about perception.  If a great iconic image for Watson catches on with the public, it would make all of IBM seem like a much cooler company to work for and to buy products and services from.