‘New Computer Overlord’ Watson Beats Jeopardy Champs

The humans redeemed themselves in the second game of the man vs. machine "Jeopardy"

tournament, after the previous game’s debacle, but it wasn’t enough. The best "Jeopardy"

player is now a computer named Watson.

Watson didn’t dominate the Feb. 16 game as thoroughly as it had on the previous

night, with Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter repeatedly beating Watson on the

buzzer. Although Watson started out strong, Jennings

rallied and got some momentum, taking the lead away from Watson. At the end of

the first round, Jennings led the

game with $8,600 to Watson’s $4,800 and Rutter’s $2,400. Jennings

continued to perform in Double Jeopardy, with $17,000 to Watson’s $15,073 late

in the game.

And then Watson found both Daily Doubles to close the gap and finish the

round with a $5,240 lead over Jennings.

After Final Jeopardy, which they all answered correctly, the final score was

$44,131 for Watson, $19,200 for Jennings

and $11,200 for Rutter.

Game

one wasn’t even close, with Watson finding both Daily Doubles and running

away with $35,734, while Rutter had $10,400 and Jennings

$4,800. The total score for the tournament cemented Watson’s victory: Watson

ended up with $77,147, Jennings

with $24,000 and Rutter $21,600.

“What have I learned over the past two days? One, Watson is fast, knows

a lot of stuff and can really dominate a match,&” “Jeopardy” host

Alex Trebek said at the beginning of the game.

However, some of the categories clearly gave Watson some difficulties. It

didn’t even buzz in on some of them. Watson totally misunderstood the "Also

on Your Computer Keys" category, and while it figured out the answers in

the "Actors Who Direct" category, it wasn’t fast enough to buzz in

ahead of the humans.

For more, read the eWeek article: IBM’s Watson ‘Our New Computer Overlord’ in ‘Jeopardy’.