Jeopardy Match Could Signal the Rise of the Machines
By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2011-01-19 14:59:34 | Word Count: 664
Last night’s practice round between two top Jeopardy champs and IBM’s latest super computer/robot – named Watson – went to the machines.
Watson is not connected to the internet, so no cheating here. He is basically the world’s most complex encyclopedia, filled with information on science, technology, literature, music, sports and more. While you’re first reaction to this might be that it’s impossible for a human to compete with a machine, Watson was built to read the questions, process the information and press a button to signal that he is ready to answer, just like the other competitors.
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Watson was up against Brad Rutter – who won the most money in Jeopardy history on the game – and Ken Jennings – who won the most games in a row, 74 for those of you who are keeping track.
After a host of sci-fi machines taking over the world movies (see The Matrix, 2001, Terminators 1 through 864, etc.) imaginations were running wild after the practice round. Jennings even said he “didn’t want technology to advance that far just yet.” Perhaps he wants his kids or grandkids to have to deal with the super smart death machines?
It’s Elementary My Dear
Oh wait, I’ve gotten ahead of myself. Watson isn’t a death machine – he’s just super smart. So smart in fact he managed to get $4,400 in the practice round, while Jennings took $3,400 and Rutter took $1,200.
Watson dominated a few of the categories last night, including a category pertaining to female archeologists, but Jennings and Rutter did better with children’s books and “M.C.” – the initials.
Watson is the result of four years of work by IBM developers and is made up of 10 racks of Linux servers.
Watson was specifically developed to compete on Jeopardy, but IBM director of research, John Kelly III, said he has limitless applications he could be utilized for. For example, Watson could provide physicians with a huge amount of resources right at their fingertips to allow them to make a well educated diagnosis in a smaller period of time.
He said, “what Watson does and has demonstrated is the ability to advance the field of artificial intelligence by miles.”
So, artificial intelligence like Robin Williams’ Bicentennial Man, or artificial intelligence like Hal?
The computer did not actually appear behind its podium during the game, as it is to enormous for that. It is represented by an LCD screen, and most likely will be again during the actual match that will be televised February 14 through 16.
Up for grabs during this battle of wits between man and machine? One million dollars – she says with her pinky to the corner of her mouth. Second place will get $300,000 and third will get $200,000. IBM said they will be donating all of their winnings to charity, while the human competitors both said they would donate half of whatever they win.
I don’t know about you, but I will be tuning in for this battle of man vs. machine next month. Hopefully they’ll fare better than poor ol’ John Henry.
