Skynet to play Ken Jennings on Jeopardy...

I am pumped about this. Ken Jennings was the reason that I started watching Jeopardy religiously. I actually asked the contestant coordinators at Jeopardy about this since this was what they were all talking about when I was out there and the big question I and everybody else had was if Watson comes up with the answer before the system allows you to ring in, does it automatically win on the buzzer because you would assume a computer has faster reaction time than a human. In Jeopardy, winning on the buzzer is more than half the battle, so that would be a huge advantage.
 
I don't know why we're always having these "man vs. computer" events. If movies and TV have taught us nothing, it's that we don't want those computers getting a sense of confidence. My PC is already losing respect for me after it took me all day to get Windows reloaded...
 
Uhhh, I think it was a practice round. It may not have been a full board or with a full three rounds or the questions may have been easier.

They may have just been sparring with the thing to gauge it, so the IBM engineers are pleased and don't tweak much for the real thing where Ken and Brad really bring it.
 
You know, figuring out how to travel to other planets, finding a cure to cancer, etc. I think those things really won't happen until you have a supercomputer that can interact naturally with scientists. They tell the computer the problem...the computer understands the problem and processes all the recorded knowledge in history and formulates and ranks hypotheses faster than humans could possibly do. And then you have another computer that tests those hypotheses. If you could teach a computer to think logically, both inductively and also deductively, watch out. It sounds like Watson is the first step in this.

It literally would understand these questions: Watson...does ou suck (not that you need a supercomputer for that)? Blondes or brunettes? Who should I vote for? In-n-Out or Five Guys?

I wonder what kind of offense it would design if you gave it a football rulebook.
 
Yah but Watson ain't perfect.

“We were asked which movie star played piano in the movie ‘Ray’ and learned to play the violin in ‘The Soloist.’ Do you know who that is? Jamie Foxx. Watson thought it was Beethoven. Watson said, ‘Beethoven.’
 
Ha...the engineers are also wrong. That's a trick question.

Foxx played the cello in The Soloist, not the violin. Obviously, you'd like a computer that could figure out when it's asked a trick question, but that's probably why Watson got that one wrong.
 
terminator-2-judgment-day-skynet-edition-20090515002942491_640w.jpg


Ask anudda twick quezztion. Go ahead. Ask.
 
lg_soloist_apr09.jpg

jamie_foxx_soloist.jpg

[image]http://blog.nj.com/ledgerletters/2009/05/large_the-soloist[/image]
Soloist.jpg
92017_meet-the-real-life-soloist.jpg

This is the real life "Soloist," a cellist.
 
Ummm posting a bunch of pictures of him playing a cello doesn't change the fact that you were wrong. He played a violin in that movie. Just because he played the cello also, and just because he played the cello more doesn't change anything, you were wrong. The question wasn't a trick question. Sorry.
 
it said he learned to play a violin, it didn't say he only learned to play a violin or that he never played a cello. the question was fine and was not a trick question. watson should have been able to do a quick imdb cross reference search and find that the star in both ray and the soloist was foxx which would have given him the answer.
 
Uncle. I read the guy's article several years ago and never remembered anything about violins...just that he was an accomplished cellist.
 
My comment about imdb was sarcastic/ironic. Watson isn't connected to the internet but im sure the collected data on imdb is somehow in watsons memory so once he was able to pick up a keyword like 'movie star' he could probably do a quick search for actors who starred in both movies resulting in jamie foxx.

its not all that unlike how a human would do it. when you play jeopardy, its all about speed and being able to get the clue before alex is done reading it, thus, the clue might as well have said "blah blah blah movie star blah blah "ray" blah blah "the soloist" blah blah. come up with jamie foxx before alex finishes reading so you can time the moment that he finishes reading the last word in the clue with when you push the buzzer. reading along with alex or waiting for the activation lights to turn on is how you lose on jeopardy. thats why i am still wondering as to how watson rings in. since he has the power of a supercomputer and should be able to either come up with an answer that he has confidence in or not before alex has finished reading the clue, one can only assume that he also has the reflexes of a computer and would be able to buzz in faster than any human which means if watson knows the answer, watson gets to answer, and when you are dealing with good jeopardy players (players who have high coryat scores like KJ and rutter), the winner isn't usually determined by what you know or don't know, it's determined by your buzzer skills. obviously final jeopardy is the great equalizer as there is no buzzer, but if you can clinch it before FJ (as KJ did many many times), you take away a lot of the luck that FJ brings with it.
 
Looks to me like clues with little pun or word play Watson will dominate thanks to his ability to win on the buzzer. The rest will be split between Ken and Brad resulting in a win for Watson.
 
The reaction time point is valid, but that's part of human v supercomputer challenges. This is challenge of total ability...reaction time included.
 
So I just read that he has the questions electronically inputted into him...which I think crosses the fairness threshold since it modifies the game and their procedures for that player.

Jeopardy! should say to IBM, he has to be able to read (scan) the questions off of the board like everyone else. In other words, the only data inputs should be optical, and audio...it shouldn't be plugged into the Jeopardy! system at all.

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