IBM is preparing to give third parties access to its supercomputer, Watson, in hopes of developing cloud applications that utilize of the system’s artificial intelligence capabilities.

Watson drew worldwide attention after it defeated human opponents on the hit game show Jeopardy! in 2011. IBM has been applying Watson’s “cognitive computing” technology to industries such as health care, but now the company is ready to share Watson with the world.

“We’ve been developing, evolving and maturing the technology,” says Rob High, Watson’s CTO. “It’s stable and mature enough to support an ecosystem now. We’ve become convinced there’s something very special here and we shouldn’t be holding it back.”

IBM initially decided to focus on health care because of the industry’s “particularly challenging” linguistic qualities. “We thought if we could master that, it would open the door for other domains,” continues High.

Watson is now dramatically smaller than its Jeopardy! champion 2,900 core system with 15TB of RAM. A basic Watson configuration is now between 16 and 32 cores with 256GM of RAM that can be linked together for greater scale if needed. Watson also supports additional document types and has ability to recognized more elements within those documents, such as embedded tables. Watson can fine-tune the way it answers questions as well, according to High.

IBM has taken to the cloud with a handful of partners each developing specialized cloud-based applications for Watson. Fluid, for example, is creating a Watson-powered program for retail. “The model is to have a running dialogue between the consumer and Watson,” which helps them make more informed buying decisions, says High.

The Watson cloud will include access to Watson’s API (application programming interface), a development toolkit, educational materials, and an application marketplace. IBM also plans to work with venture capitalists to find startups that want to build software on Watson.

Interacting with Watson is fairly straightforward for any programmer, however “cognitive systems are different in that they have the ability to simulate human behavior,” High says. “For the most part humans have had to adapt to the computer. As we get into cognitive systems we open up the aperture to the computer adapting to the human.”

The upcoming details, such as pricing, have yet to be finalized, but what does it mean for Watson to be on the cloud? By allowing access to Watson’s cognitive computing capabilities, IBM is allowing Watson-driven applications and software to be accessible through the internet rather than on-site. The company is virtually opening doors to Watson to make further advancements in technology.

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