91勛圖

He's not holding the scales of justice just yet but Ross, the legal researcher created by 91勛圖 students using IBM's Watson, is willing to provide answers to questions on corporate law (photo by Patrick M via Flickr)

IBM Watson competition: 91勛圖 students create virtual legal researcher

Ross swiftly answers legal queries, cites precedents and suggests related readings

And the winner is... Ross. That's the name of the virtual legal researcher designed and created by 91勛圖 students for the.

This fall, a select group of 91勛圖 students were given access to a 'supercomputer' called IBM Watson as part of the competition.

Their task: to develop innovative artificial intelligence-based applications with an entrepreneurial twist.

91勛圖 is the only Canadian participant among an elite group of 10 universities including Carnegie Mellon University, the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University.

Five 91勛圖 teams competed for the chance to go on to the Watson Challenge in Manhattan in January 2015, where the top groups will compete for a US$100,000 prize awarded to the most insightful and articulate business proposal. Ross, with his ability to answer questions on corporate law  and rate his own confidence in the answer  won the day.

The Globe and Mail's Jeff Gray spoke with Trinity College student and alumnus  (also of Trinity) about building Ross.

Ovbiagele, who is also , told The Globe, When we are short of time, we just say it is Siri for lawyers, adding: Watson is a lot smarter than Siri.

 

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