INTX 2016: Comcast CTO Sees Growing Role for Machine Learning in System Ops

Get more #INTX2016 news.

Boston -- “Machine learning” will pave the way to delivering better experiences including “how quickly we can put apps on the X1 platform,” Comcast EVP and chief technology officer Tony Werner explained here in an introductory overview at the Imagine Park opening session on Monday. 

He envisioned “a ton of very cool apps,” comparing the ability of DOCSIS 3.1 to replace “a backhoe or forklift” in implementing new services for cable operators.

“I love Full Duplex,” Werner enthused about a symmetrical multi-gigabit project underway at CableLabs and being demoed here by Nokia, before he scooted off stage to support other Comcast executives at the opening of their nearby booth on the INTX show floor. 

As fellow panelist and visionary Andy Lippman, senior scientist and Associate Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, showed his “Ultimate Media” project, Werner quickly noted that, “You don’t have all the online sources loving it.”  Werner cited the prioritization for certain news sources within the MIT algorithm.

For his part, Lippman envisioned a shifting media landscape in which TV networks assume the role that Hollywood studios have taken in the motion picture industry -- they become venture capital sources for creative producers.  He called it a re-invention of the broadcast industry. 

Lippman also emphasized the speed of change, citing the rapid move away from schedule programming to on-demand programming. 

Gary Arlen

Contributor Gary Arlen is known for his insights into the convergence of media, telecom, content and technology. Gary was founder/editor/publisher of Interactivity Report, TeleServices Report and other influential newsletters; he was the longtime “curmudgeon” columnist for Multichannel News as well as a regular contributor to AdMap, Washington Technology and Telecommunications Reports. He writes regularly about trends and media/marketing for the Consumer Technology Association's i3 magazine plus several blogs. Gary has taught media-focused courses on the adjunct faculties at George Mason University and American University and has guest-lectured at MIT, Harvard, UCLA, University of Southern California and Northwestern University and at countless media, marketing and technology industry events. As President of Arlen Communications LLC, he has provided analyses about the development of applications and services for entertainment, marketing and e-commerce.