Jeopardy or what is a relly bad concept?

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Just watched the watson episode of jeopardy, I mean it made no sense as it seems to show only that the computer could ring in more times than humans right when Alex finishes speaking. I surprised they didn't stop and figure something that made more sense.

 

[tiggerlover]

I was very disappointed too.

 

[minkydog]

yeah, it was really stupid. And what's up with that last question? Really? the computer thought the world's largest airport was in Toronto?

The whole episode was one long IBM infomercial

 

[NikitaZee]

I agree. Any answer that Watson knew, it was the first to hit the button. Even Ken Jennings was looking frustrated. I was hoping that the other two contestants would just quit trying altogether, so it would be just an obvious plug for IBM. That wasn't Jeopardy at all!

 

[ICF]

yeah, it was really stupid. And what's up with that last question? Really? the computer thought the world's largest airport was in Toronto?

The last question dealt with US Airports or some such thing, not the world's largest airport.

You do have to question a computer though that thought Toronto could be the answer to a question about US airports.

I thought it was interesting, but it does seem to be able to buzz in quicker than the real people which gives it an unfair advantage.

 

[minkydog]

The last question dealt with US Airports or some such thing, not the world's largest airport.

You do have to question a computer though that thought Toronto could be the answer to a question about US airports.

Oh, you're right. i knew that. I got the answer mixed up. That's why i was when it answered with Toronto.

 

[luvmy3]

I was disappointed in Jeopardy too but what Watson can do is amazing.

 

[luvmy3]

I agree. Any answer that Watson knew, it was the first to hit the button. Even Ken Jennings was looking frustrated. I was hoping that the other two contestants would just quit trying altogether, so it would be just an obvious plug for IBM. That wasn't Jeopardy at all!

They had a practice run the day before it was tapeds, Jennings and the other guy knew what to expect. It really wasn't supposed to be about Jeopardy, it was supposed to be about Watson and IBM.

 

[pixiechick]

what a waste of time that was...

the topic for final jeopardy was actually US Cities.

Why Watson chose to only bet $947 (?), and then answer with a Canadian city is a huge question.

We knew the answer in our house, why didn't the computer?

I won't be watching tomorrow.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

And instead of showing what answers it was pulling, I would have loved if iot showed the % of times it just used wikipedia.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If you saw the first session yesterday, one of the things they mentioned was that Watson was not connected to the Internet but was basing its answers on what was stored in its memory.

Also, yesterday Ken Jennings range in on a question and got the answer wrong; then Watson rang in on the sme question and gave the same wrong answer.

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

Watson is not connected to the internet so Wiki is out. Also I am not really sure how much that would acctually help...lol
I think you have to look a little farther over the horizon that jeopardy. Imagine having a Watson like computer at home, that can do things like your taxes. Maybe you could ask Watson complex questions about complicated elctronics and mechanical devices.
Maybe something as simple as knowing what foods you have and giving you recipe ideas.
Maybe Watson could give you finacial advice based on many complex global factors not considered by humans.


Or maybe Watson could replace....you! hahahalmao KIDDING

 

[luvmy3]

And instead of showing what answers it was pulling, I would have loved if iot showed the % of times it just used wikipedia.

Its not connected to the internet.

 

[Hemlock]

I believe the final question was "what city has its largest airport named for a World War II hero and a second airport named for a World War II battle". The category was U.S. cities, so Watson was way off with TORONTO.

 

[teacherforhi]

The last question dealt with US Airports or some such thing, not the world's largest airport.

You do have to question a computer though that thought Toronto could be the answer to a question about US airports.

I thought it was interesting, but it does seem to be able to buzz in quicker than the real people which gives it an unfair advantage.

I don't think Watson knew the category was about cities in the United States. All Jeopardy clues are written in all capitals, so the text file that Watson said the category for Final Jeopardy was 'US CITIES'. Of course, Alex said "U.S. Cities," but Watson couldn't hear that. I think that's why it only risked $947 (or something like that).

On the other hand, if it did know the clue was about cities in the United States, it probably knew there was no way it could know everything about every city, so it bet low knowing it would have to guess.

As for the buzzing in, now Ken Jennings knows how the 148 people he played against during his time on Jeopardy (not including tournaments) felt when he blew them away with ringing in. He's actually said himself that it's not always what you know on Jeopardy, but how fast you ring in to answer.

 

[Ember]

I think it's an amazing achievement. To have a computer mimic reasoning is technically phenomenal. This is not artificial intelligence by any stretch of the imagination (which I've seen more than one news story report it as), but the sheer computing power and programming involved in such a complex machine is astounding. I love seeing first hand how we, as humans, are able to use technology and how we're continually pushing the boarders of our own knowledge.

 

[Diznygrl]

I think a lot of you are missing the point here. It's not really about "Let's see if Ken Jennings can beat a computer at Jeopardy", it's about the amazing technological achievement that even allows Watson to PLAY Jeopardy. I don't think people realize what a difficult thing that is. They just assume that it's easy because it's a computer. I highly recommend people watch the PBS special that explains all about Watson and what a modern marvel he is. You can watch it on PBS's website here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/smartest-machine-on-earth.html

 

[Cinderella94]

FWIW, there are cities called Toronto in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and South Dakota.

 

[Ember]

FWIW, there are cities called Toronto in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and South Dakota.

Yep. Also this:

Watson’s odd answer was a result of several confusing factors, according to David Ferrucci, whose post-game analysis appeared on IBM’s A Smarter Planet blog. Jeopardy category names are tricky because they “only weakly suggest” the expected answer, so Watson tends to downgrade the significance of the category name when calculating its answer, Ferrucci said. If the question had included “U.S. city” in the question, it would have given U.S. cities more weight in its search, he said.

Watson was also probably confused by the fact there are several cities named Toronto in the United States, and the Canadian Toronto has a baseball team in the American League, according to Ferrucci. Chicago was the second answer on Watson’s possible list, according to A Smarter Planet.

*http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/IBMs-Watson-Wins-in-Jeopardy-Needs-Lessons-in-US-Geography-845727/

 

[Mrs. Charming]

It's totally dumb. It seems like a google type program with an exceptionaaly large database. The voice recognition thing is cool, but isnt that the same technology that annoys the crap out of us whenever we call any of the Disney reservation lines or most other 1-800 numbers?? That darn thing can NEVER get my last name right...