Pearson Taps IBM’s Watson as a Virtual Tutor for College Students

Bloomberg – IBM and Pearson announced a new partnership on Tuesday. Pearson will use the Watson artificial intelligence as an online tutor for college courses. The partnership is a strategic move for both companies. Pearson has struggled with lagging textbook sales and decreased college enrollment while IBM needs to monetize its billion plus dollar investment in supercomputer Watson. The terms, costs, and revenue projections for the project have yet to be revealed, but it’s clear both companies see potential in this new venture.

Watson as an online tutor will be a messenger-based tool. It will answer student’s questions and also provide feedback to the professors on how the students are learning. Watson is capable of providing hints, feedback and explanations to student queries. The pilot program is already underway and the results have been positive for both students and teachers. The companies plan to expand the program through 2017 and 2018. LINK