From Farah Mendlesohn
You report that the IBM supercomputer Watson is aiding medical diagnoses (25 August, p 19). Why is anyone in the least bit surprised that it is useful?
Many people long to be assessed by a computer that will set aside human preconceptions and listen to a full range of symptoms. After the 30 years it took me to get a diagnosis of coeliac disease, I believe I would have done better if handed a questionnaire to be run through a computer of this sort.
London, UK
