The volume of medical data being created and published is rapidly increasing, and it would take a doctor to read something like 160 hours per week to stay on top of their field. There are only 168 hours in a week, so there is really no way a doctor today can keep up with what is going on . The idea of Watson is to be able to take large amounts of unstructured data (i.e. an entire patient history and current symptoms) and be able to find a solution. I don't think Watson will replace a doctor or physical interaction anytime soon, but a device connected to Watson or similar solution will most definitely be used to augment the doctor's diagnosis and treatment solution.