Jeopardy : Othor Games

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:10 pm

So has anyone else watched the first night of this special event?

Watson, named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, was built by a team of IBM scientists who set out to accomplish a grand challenge - build a computing system that rivals a human's ability to answer questions posed in natural language with speed, accuracy and confidence. The Jeopardy! format provides the ultimate challenge because the game's clues involve anolyzing subtle meaning, irony, riddles, and other complexities in which humans excel and computers traditionally do not.

Looks like Watson is pretty good with hard facts but has a lot more difficulty with questions dealing with abstract concepts. Also since it can't hear what the other contestants are saying then it can come up with duplicate answers despite that answer being wrong.

So what do you guys think? Will Watson win or will the Jeopardy champions will overcome

Edit: http://www.jeopardy.com/news/watson1x7ap4.php

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:39 am

Sadly I have stopped watching the show along time ago. I have no idea who Will Watson is or who the Jeprody champions are. I remember watching Ken Jennings though.

» Tue May 17, 2011 10:12 am

I'm rooting for real people. What happens when we create intelligent life that is twice as smart as us? It creates intelligence that it 2x as smarter as it and humans become extinct. Oh snap.

@ Davor: :rofl: Watson is a machine.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:47 am

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/ibms-watson-wins-jeopardy-practice-round-can-humans-hang/43601, FYI

It ended pretty close this time, I enjoyed it. It'll come down to how well IBM programmed in the natural flow of language, which is not absolute and definitely not logical, on top of that it's in English. This is what makes it a true test of how far computers (and computer programming) has come. It isn't a simple thing of Watson searching his database for the answer, but he has to understand what the question is asking and then see if he knows the answer.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:23 pm

Watson will win. no doubt about it. the game has become more "Can you ring in faster than Watson?" and less about the trivia (although Final tonight was kinda funny with Watson being the only one to get it wrong)

» Tue May 17, 2011 6:59 am

Let's go humanity! Down with the machines!

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:54 am

My bet's on humanity on this one. A rematch somewhere later down the road? I'll place my bet on what will probably be an upgraded version then.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:06 pm

So is this the begining of Terminators now? Maybe the Cylons? First it was, oh I forget the name, first it was chess, now Trivia? So are we going to have machines to rebel agaisnt us soon?

Yeah I just finished watching Battlestar Galactica.

» Tue May 17, 2011 7:54 am

I found it hilarious when one of the contestants got the question incorrect and Watson answered with the same answer. Was pretty funny.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:57 pm

There is only one eventuality, we will be machines, or there will be machines.

» Tue May 17, 2011 7:34 am

I found it hilarious when one of the contestants got the question incorrect and Watson answered with the same answer. Was pretty funny.

That's what happens when he has no sensory input. The only input he gets is a text file with the question. Kinda svcks really, as that is a disadvantage.

» Tue May 17, 2011 11:24 am

I saw a Nova special about it on Sunday, planned to watch it last night, forgot, remembered tonight, tuned in.

I felt sort of bad for Watson, though: He got the final Jeopardy question wrong (What is Toronto?????), and then Alex Trebek just walked right past him to talk to the two humans. What a jerkface...

Was sort of vindicated at how awesome Watson was doing, though. He had like, 30,000 something compared to the other guys' 2400 and 5000ish.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:24 pm

My 1st thought was oh boy here comes the Terminator moment but I'm curious as to how well Watson can do against human players.

"I'll be back" :toughninja:

» Tue May 17, 2011 11:55 am

His wagers on Daily Doubles were funny ^_^ I wanna know what sort of logic algorithm he used to make them (along with his final wager)

» Tue May 17, 2011 7:34 am

His wagers on Daily Doubles were funny ^_^ I wanna know what sort of logic algorithm he used to make them (along with his final wager)

The final wager was just hilarious

It was like there was a ray of light for the humans until that slap in the face when they revealed how much money Watson wagered. Bastard machine :laugh:

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:21 pm

I'm guessing he made it a true final jeopardy or what?

» Tue May 17, 2011 4:13 pm

I'm guessing he made it a true final jeopardy or what?

For both daily doubles he gave really wacky amounts, and for the Final Jeopardy, he got it wrong, but when they showed how much he wagered, he only wagered like $931 (likewise a very wacky amount)

Like I said, I would love to see the logic algorithm used to determine how much he wagers, far more interesting IMO than the natural language ruleset ot me

» Tue May 17, 2011 11:31 am

I felt sort of bad for Watson, though: He got the final Jeopardy question wrong (What is Toronto?????), and then Alex Trebek just walked right past him to talk to the two humans. What a jerkface...

Do you really know exactly how funny this is? The question is "What is Toronto?" This is hilariouis. Just for those who don't know, Alex Trebek is Canadian. Toronto is the capital city of Ontario.
For a super computer not to get this? Well, if Google can find out what is anything, I am shocked for Watson not to get it.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:52 am

Do you really know exactly how funny this is? The question is "What is Toronto?" This is hilariouis. Just for those who don't know, Alex Trebek is Canadian. Toronto is the capital city of Ontario.
For a super computer not to get this? Well, if Google can find out what is anything, I am shocked for Watson not to get it.

1. Watson isn't connected to the Internet, he only knows what are in his databases

2. Watson isn't a search engine in the common sense: He is incapable of finding direct matches or searching for the question verbatim. Instead he uses a relational search using cutting-edge natural-language algorithms developed by IBM. That's what it is all about: IBM showcasing their ability to have a computer understand English.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:16 am

Watson will win. no doubt about it. the game has become more "Can you ring in faster than Watson?" and less about the trivia (although Final tonight was kinda funny with Watson being the only one to get it wrong)

Yeah; it's an interesting example of how far technology has come, but it makes for a REALLY dull show listening to HAL-9000 buzz in the answer every question. Even if you knew the answer immediately, I doubt you'd beat the computer buzzing it in. I'd be more interested to see them put a delay of some sort on his answers to give the Champs a fighting chance, and see if the computer would still win.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:21 pm

Watson will win. no doubt about it. the game has become more "Can you ring in faster than Watson?" and less about the trivia (although Final tonight was kinda funny with Watson being the only one to get it wrong)

Yesterday Watson was wrong on multiple occasions, and from what I can tell, his speed to ring is comparable to the other Jeopardy players (once again, see yesterday when he answered with the same answer as Jennings.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:46 pm

Did they ever explain how the text of the questions gets to Watson. I mean they just instantly send him the question?

» Tue May 17, 2011 10:09 am

So now you want to give the super-context-discerning machine super-hearing-comprehension as well?

...
I didn't think so.
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That actually is a good point, to see what the processing time on those questions might be for a real time answer.

» Tue May 17, 2011 11:30 am

If it hads GLaDOS's voice, then maybe i would tune in

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:47 am

His wagers on Daily Doubles were funny ^_^ I wanna know what sort of logic algorithm he used to make them (along with his final wager)

Yeah, definitely made me chuckle. Loved his final Jeopardy answer, too