IBM Computer Trounces Humans in Jeopardy! Test Run

January 14, 2011 -

In a test run of a special battle between an IBM supercomputer named "Watson" and two of the best Jeopardy! players in the world, the computer dominates. The test of the computer is a preview of a televised battle to take place in January pitting two men against one machine. Score so far: Men 0, Computer 1.

IBM claims that Watson is a major advance in artificial intelligence, and if this test run is any indication, the company is speaking the gospel. Watson managed to beat former Jeopardy! champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on Thursday in its first public test, a short practice round ahead of a million-dollar tournament that will be televised next month in a special series of shows.

Jennings is no lightweight: he won a record 74 consecutive "Jeopardy!" games in 2004 and 2005. Rutter won a record of nearly $3.3 million in prize money on the show.

According to IBM, Watson is powered by 10 racks of IBM servers running Linux. Watson is the result of four years worth of work by IBM researchers around the globe.

"Language is ambiguous; it's contextual; it's implicit," said IBM scientist David Ferrucci, a leader of the Watson team. Sorting out the context -- especially in a game show filled with hints and jokes -- is an enormous job for the computer, which also must analyze how certain it is of an answer and whether it should risk a guess, he said.

The practice round took place on a stage at the IBM research center in Yorktown Heights, 38 miles north of Manhattan. The real contest to be televised Feb. 14-16, will be played at IBM on Friday.

The winner of the match will be awarded $1 million. Second place gets $300,000, third place $200,000. IBM will donate any winnings Watson receives to charity. Jennings and Rutter will donate half of their winnings to charity because humans can actually use money.

During a press event after the test match, the former Jeopardy! champions joked about Watson:

"When Watson's progeny comes back to kill me from the future," Rutter said, "I have my escape route planned just in case."

"I had a friend tell me, 'Remember John Henry, the steel-drivin' man.' And I was like ... 'Remember John Connor!'" Jennings said. "We're gonna take this guy out!"

Source: Salon

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Re: IBM Computer Trounces Humans in Jeopardy! Test Run

Submitted by MonkeyPeaches on Fri, 01/14/2011 - 16:03.

Quick someone find and protect John Connor.

Re: IBM Computer Trounces Humans in Jeopardy! Test Run

Submitted by Gamervisionsean on Fri, 01/14/2011 - 15:14.

I don't know - a $1,000 lead at the end of the first segment, with three full categories and all of Double Jeopardy left to go, doesn't exactly say "trounce" to me. It's impressive, to be sure. But the headline here is a bit misleading.

Editor in Chief - Gamervision.com How Gamers See the World!

Re: IBM Computer Trounces Humans in Jeopardy! Test Run

Submitted by DorkmasterFlek on Fri, 01/14/2011 - 13:40.

That is pretty damn impressive actually. The computer has to analyze the words of the answer, figure out contextually what is being asked, and then come up with the question response. I'm assuming it also has to take the category into account as well, which adds another layer of complexity. No doubt this AI is pretty damn sophisticated.

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Neo_DrKefka: Gawker loses advertiser MERCED ES https://mobile .twitter.com/TheRalphRetort/status/522813815260733441/photo/1 after Gawker writer advocates bullying of nerds with an anti Gamergate rant10/19/2014 - 12:32pm

Matthew Wilson: https://soundcloud.com/totalbiscuit/weaponised-charity a interesting audio log.10/19/2014 - 12:04pm

prh99: Also there is no story in rational and respectful discussion (where you can find it).10/19/2014 - 10:44am

prh99: Well they are probably doing it on Twitter and probably the GG hashtag so any voice reason gets drowned out by idiocy. Also it's far easier to broad brush a group.10/19/2014 - 10:41am

Wonderkarp: dont fool yourself, Technogeek. Remember Mass Effect 3? How about the ferver against Phil Fish?10/19/2014 - 10:18am

MechaTama31: None of which is the fault or responsibility of the people who are not trolling, harassing, threatening, doxxing, etc. So why is their opinion hostage to the people who are?10/19/2014 - 10:06am

Technogeek: If the developer were male there wouldn't have been a "conversation" in the first place.10/19/2014 - 2:27am

Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm

Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm

Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm

Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm

Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm

Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm

Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm

Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm

ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm

MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm

Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm

MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am

Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am

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