What Amazon Can Learn From IBM’s Watson

By Lyons George and Rex Moore – Mar 19, 2014 at 2:00PM

NYSE: IBM

International Business Machines

Market Cap

$167B

Today's Change

(0.16%) $0.29

Current Price

$182.19

Price as of April 23, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET

IBM’s Watson computer can change the face of many industries, especially health care and retail.

One of the more fascinating discussions at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Tex., centered on IBM's (IBM 0.16%) Watson computer. While famous for its performance on the TV quiz show Jeopardy, IBM has much greater revenue-generating goals ahead for it.

The next generation of apps for Watson could involve enhanced selling opportunities for retailers like Amazon.com (AMZN 1.30%). Amazon could team up with the supercomputer and offer a shopping experience unlike anything consumers are seeing today.

The health-care field is also set to benefit. Watson has the potential to drastically cut down on misdiagnoses, and save untold lives in the process.

In the following video, Motley Fool analysts Lyons George and Rex Moore report from SXSW on the promising future of IBM's Watson project.

Lyons George has no position in any stocks mentioned. Rex Moore owns shares of Google. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Google, and International Business Machines. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.