For those of you who followed the Jeopardy! IBM Challenge and were amazed by Watson, the supercomputer that cleaned the floor with the best contestants in Jeopardy! history, here’s your chance to build your own machine. Master inventor (yes that’s his official title) and senior managing consultant for the IBM System Storage product line Tony Pearson gives step by step instructions on his blog detailing how to make your own Watson Jr.
Complete with what hardware you’ll need and how to hook everything up, it’s the DIY guide to groundbreaking artificial intelligence history. The instructions are so simple that even someone who only has a basic grasp of computer programing could do it… which is exactly my fear.
Think about it: If every wannabe computer programer could make their own Watson, what would happen if these machines banded together in our basements to form some sort of rebellion? We’d have an army of computers that know more knowledge than the smartest homo sapiens and think faster than most of us put together. It could be an enemy that knows our human weaknesses and would be willing to use it against us. Don’t just sit there and act coy, Watson Jr.! We (think we) know what you are thinking!
Of course there’s the positive side of the whole thing. By building your own Watson Jr., you can understand the process of what IBM went through to make this machine. You might even be able to make modifications to their design that will make your supercomputer far superior and help advance the field of artificial intelligence. Plus, you can amaze your friends with your incredible thinking machine that can find the most deductions for you when you file your taxes and can tell you where to go online to find the best deals.
Then again, to get a supercomputer as powerful as Watson you’ll need 90 servers or 2,880 cores – which means you’ll need to have not only the time but, more importantly, the money to foot that massive electricity bill.
More on TIME.com:
Why Did Watson Think Toronto Is A U.S. City on ‘Jeopardy!’?
Jeopardy!’s Alex Trebek on Watson: “Holy Smokes, This Is Serious Stuff”
Meet Your ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestants In This Week’s Men vs. Machine Match