IBM Launches Watson Data Kits to Help Accelerate Enterprise AI Adoption

IBM’s New, Industry-Specific, Machine-Readable Data Sets Designed To Expedite AI Training Workflows; First Kits Will Serve Travel, Transportation And Food Industries

IBM today announced the launch of IBM Watson Data Kits, which are designed to accelerate the development of AI applications to help support faster, more informed decision making for business leaders. Watson Data Kits will provide companies across industries with pre-enriched, machine readable, industry-specific data that can enable them to scale AI across their business. With expected availability in 2Q 2018, the kits will initially serve the travel and transportation and food industries with Watson Data Kits for travel points of interest and food menus, respectively.

Data scientists currently spend roughly 79% of their time collecting, organizing and mining data to glean actionable insights (Source: Forbes, 2016), making it challenging for business leaders to implement must-have AI technology at scale. By helping to streamline and accelerate the development process for data scientists and AI engineers, companies can now quickly extract rich insights, create more engaging consumer experiences and ultimately drive greater business value.

“Big data is fueling the cognitive era. However, businesses need the right data to truly drive innovation,” said Kristen Lauria, General Manager of Watson Media and Content. “IBM Watson Data Kits can help bridge that gap by providing the machine-readable, pre-trained data companies require to accelerate AI development and lead to a faster time to insight and value. Data is hard, but Watson can make it easier for stakeholders at every level, from CIOs to data scientists.”

Developed with Triposo an IBM data provider, the Watson Data Kit for travel points of interest (POI) will provide airlines, hotel brands, online travel agencies and others with point-of-interest data to help them create more engaging experiences for travelers. It will contain more than 300,000 points of interest in 100 categories. Companies within the travel and transportation industry can use the kits to more easily build AI-powered web and mobile experiences to help consumers find fun and interesting things to do in their destination city. For example, a hospitality company could use the Watson Data Kit for travel points of interest to train the AI powering the chatbot within its mobile application, recommending personalized destinations and attractions based on a customer’s preferences.

The Watson Data Kit for food menus contains 700,000 menus in 21,000 U.S. cities, providing AI developers with content for apps that can help users find the menu item, type of cuisine, location and price they want near them. The kit is designed to take a user deeper than the restaurant level, enabling menu choices and prices to be compared side-by-side for particular interests such as organic, soul food, and gluten-free. For example, the Watson Data Kit for food menus can be integrated into a car’s navigation system and could support the system in providing on-the-spot, voice-activated directions to the closest bakery that sells gluten-free muffins.

IBM will be on stage at IBM Think 2018 to discuss how Watson Data Kits are helping to influence the development of AI-enhanced business applications. In the coming months, IBM will release Watson Data Kits tailored for additional industries.

Watson makes sense of the breadth and diversity of the world’s structured and unstructured data across a variety of industries, including sports, medicine, travel, retail, and many others.