Can you beat IBM supercomputer Watson at trivia?

**iloveemoticons** · 02-13-2011, 10:55 PM

So IBM has made a supercomputer called Watson to play Jeopardy, and it's scheduled to go up against Jeopardy champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on Monday's show. See how you do against it!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...ivia-game.html

**Garden Kitty** · 02-13-2011, 11:18 PM

Yes, but this game allowed me to go first no matter how long I took to answer, which isn't how Jeopardy works. For most of the answers I got right, Watson came to the same answer, and it may have done so faster than I did.

**Prancer** · 02-13-2011, 11:40 PM

I beat it, too, for the same reason as Garden Kitty, although I was surprised that Watson actually got the wrong answer a few times.

This was my favorite:

Sing a song about one of these, a sailor's bag for small articles.

Watson's answer: Papa's Got a Brand-new Bag.

**jcopper** · 02-14-2011, 12:22 AM

28 to 21.

I've always loved Jeopardy and my team won several quiz bowl tournaments in middle and high school, so I was confident, but I found out I was way out of practice. Still able to win though. I am interested in seeing how Ken Jennings does tomorrow.

I think a good strategy for the human players will be to buzz in immediately even if they're not sure and then use the few moments to narrow it down. Right or wrong, the humans can then judge the computer's response time.

**rjblue** · 02-14-2011, 01:13 AM

I can't wait to watch the Jeopardy episodes. Nova had a show last week showing how many years and how much effort went into developing Watson.

**mmscfdcsu** · 02-14-2011, 01:32 AM

I lost 3 questions due to my inability to spell

**Matryeshka** · 02-14-2011, 02:18 AM

39 to 18!!!!!!!!!!!!! I RULLLLEZZZ.

**iloveemoticons** · 02-14-2011, 03:01 AM

I totally bombed the bags category (although if it had been about handbags, maybe I would have done better

).

**rjblue** · 02-14-2011, 11:34 PM

They are airing the show right now. My kids and I are watching on the edge of our seats. I haven't tried to spoil myself so I don't know who wins.

Quite a different studio audience from the usual- lots of grey haired men in suits.

**iloveemoticons** · 02-14-2011, 11:54 PM

Sounds like it should be interesting! I'm an hour behind here, but hoping for some hilariously off base answers from Watson!

**skatingfan5** · 02-14-2011, 11:56 PM

I beat Watson 50-something to 5! And that was even when with my my of "ditty" was disallowed because I didn't realize that I had to retype "What is" that appeared in the answer box. Of course, the time thing gave me an advantage (and Watson answered the Elvis question, which I passed on), but some of Watson's "don't know" guesses were quite funny.

**Matryeshka** · 02-15-2011, 01:53 AM

I watched it--I loved Watson's second and third guesses. The competitors are interesting too--I get the feeling Ken Jennings is not taking this all that seriously and is quite happy to guess and have some fun with Watson, but I think Brad *really* wants to win.

**Skittl1321** · 02-15-2011, 01:58 AM

What were the results today?

**rjblue** · 02-15-2011, 02:24 AM

They got through one board- Watson and Brad are tied with, I think, $5000 each, and Ken is in third with $2000.

Watson missed one when it answered "What are the Nineteen-twenties", after Ken had just guessed "The Twenties". And missed one when it just left out a qualifying word that a human would have known was necessary.

I agree that Brad really wants to win. Ken seems more laid back.

**CynicElle** · 02-15-2011, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by rjblue

Watson missed one when it answered "What are the Nineteen-twenties", after Ken had just guessed "The Twenties".
I agree that Brad really wants to win. Ken seems more laid back.

I laughed really hard when Alex said "Ken already guessed 'The Twenties', Watson!" so disapprovingly. Bad Watson -- no soup for you!

**BigB08822** · 02-15-2011, 07:12 PM

I was doing well at first but then lost horribly. I ended up with a negative number. Trivia is not my thing, obviously.

**danceronice** · 02-15-2011, 08:24 PM

Something like 58 to 4, me, but only because I could think about it longer than I would on real Jeopardy. So I'd probably trounce Watson in Trivial Pursuit if I got to go first, but when buzzer speed factors in it would be much tighter.

**skatepixie** · 02-16-2011, 12:08 AM

We tied, 28 apiece.

**oleada** · 02-16-2011, 12:12 AM

Watson is destroying Brad and Ken today.

**rjblue** · 02-16-2011, 12:17 AM

It is both sad and thrilling to watch a machine outthink a human.

The medical applications of this computer will be invaluable.

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