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100 Part I • Decision Making and Analytics: An Overview

a knowledge management system [KMS]), which is sometimes called the organizational
knowledge base. Knowledge may be provided via Web servers. Many artificial intelligence
methods have been implemented in Web development systems such as Java and are easy
to integrate into the other DSS components. One of the most widely publicized knowledge-
based DSS is IBM’s Watson computer system. It is described in Application Case 2.4.
We conclude the sections on the three major DSS components with information
on some recent technology and methodology developments that affect DSS and deci-
sion making. Technology Insights 2.2 summarizes some emerging developments in user

Application Case 2.4

From a Game Winner to a Doctor!
The television show Jeopardy! inspired an IBM Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
research team to build a supercomputer named (MSKCC), New York, and WellPoint, a major insur-
Watson that successfully took on the challenge of ance provider, have begun using Watson as a treat-
playing Jeopardy! and beat the other human com- ment advisor in oncology diagnosis. Watson learned
petitors. Since then, Watson has evolved into a the process of diagnosis and treatment through its
question-answering computing platform that is now natural-language processing capabilities, which ena-
being used commercially in the medical field and bled it to leverage the unstructured data with an enor-
is expected to find its use in many other areas. mous amount of clinical expertise data, molecular
Watson is a cognitive system built on clus- and genomic data from existing cancer case histo-
ters of powerful processors supported by IBM’s ries, journal articles, physicians’ notes, and guidelines
DeepQA® software. Watson employs a combina- and best practices from the National Comprehensive
tion of techniques like natural-language processing, Cancer Network. It was then trained by oncologists to
hypothesis generation and evaluation, and evidence- apply the knowledge gained in comparing an individ-
based learning to overcome the constraints imposed ual patient’s medical information against a wide vari-
by programmatic computing. This enables Watson ety of treatment guidelines, published research, and
to work on massive amounts of real-world, unstruc- other insights to provide individualized, confidence-
tured Big Data efficiently. scored recommendations to the physicians.
In the medical field, it is estimated that the At MSKCC, Watson facilitates evidence-based
amount of medical information doubles every support for every suggestion it makes while analyz-
5 years. This massive growth limits a physician’s ing an individual case by bringing out the facts from
decision-making ability in diagnosis and treatment of medical literature that point to a particular sugges-
illness using an evidence-based approach. With the tion. It also provides a platform for the physicians to
advancements being made in the medical field every look at the case from multiple directions by doing fur-
day, physicians do not have enough time to read ther analysis relevant to the individual case. Its voice
every journal that can help them in keeping up-to- recognition capabilities allow physicians to speak to
date with the latest advancements. Patient histories Watson, enabling it to be a perfect assistant that helps
and electronic medical records contain lots of data. If physicians in critical evidence-based decision making.
this information can be analyzed in combination with WellPoint also trained Watson with a vast his-
vast amounts of existing medical knowledge, many tory of medical cases and now relies on Watson’s
useful clues can be provided to the physicians to hypothesis generation and evidence-based learning
help them identify diagnostic and treatment options. to generate recommendations in providing approval
Watson, dubbed Dr. Watson, with its advanced for medical treatments based on the clinical and
machine learning capabilities, now finds a new role patient data. Watson also assists the insurance pro-
as a computer companion that assists physicians by viders in detecting fraudulent claims and protecting
providing relevant real-time information for critical physicians from malpractice claims.
decision making in choosing the right diagnostic and Watson provides an excellent example of
treatment procedures. (Also see the opening vignette a knowledge-based DSS that employs multiple
for Chapter 7.) advanced technologies.

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