Link to detailed backgrounder from the NY Times on "What Is IBM's Watson" (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/magazine/20Computer-t.html?hp http://www.nytimes.co

Link to detailed backgrounder from the NY Times on "What Is IBM's Watson" (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/magazine/20Computer-t.html?hp http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/magazine/20Computer-t.html...), with lively HN discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1436625 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1436625. The linked piece above discusses in depth the fascinating history of how Watson came about and how it manages to mimic human intelligence, with interesting asides about such issues as how the machine occasionally messes up in response to certain questions and the skill level of human play that it takes to beat it. A very informative discussion of the AI issues.