From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Are computers learning to think?

Hello again, I'm Armin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

In 1997, IBM's deep blue computer

defeated chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov. This week, Watson defeated two champion humans on

Jeopardy. Because Watson understood some tricky questions, IBM says the machine has the ability

to understand natural human language. But does Watson really think?

Supercomputers already invest on Wall Street and land airplanes at busy airports. What will they do next?

Is artificial intelligence nearing the point where it replaces not just our jobs, but also our minds?

On reporters notebook later on, public employees, state governors, and President

Obama. First, here's the news.

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Catherine T. McArthur Foundation, and the Skoll Foundation, supporting social entrepreneurs around the world. Uncommonious heroes dedicated to the common good. Learn more at Skoll.org.

Well, and I'll only back with which way, with to the point, the IBM computer Watson was not perfect on Jeopardy this week, but it was good enough to defeat two champion human beings.

What's new and different about Watson? Can artificial intelligence really cope with complex reality?

On reporter's notebook, Wisconsin has become a national battleground between Republican governors and public employees backed by President Obama.

Will the battle spread to other states?

First, this news update.

In the Middle East today, crackdowns continued on anti-government protesters in Egypt,

where people power deposed a president.

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