A computer is being prepared to compete in the quiz show Jeopardy, and if its developers at IBM have their way, it could well become the next great contestant to beat. The computer, called Watson, will have to interpret the question, process puns and other word games, search through its database and determine the correct answer, all within less than a second—the reaction time of “Jeopardy” players [PCMag.com].
Its developers are aiming not at a true thinking machine but at a new class of software that can “understand” human questions and respond to them correctly. Such a program would have enormous economic implications [The New York Times]. Watson will not be connected to the Internet, and instead will have to rely on its own content database–just as a human contestant must rely on her own store of knowledge.
David Ferrucci, leading artificial intelligence researcher for the project, said, “The big goal is to get computers to be able to converse in human terms…. And we’re not there yet” [The New York Times]. IBM is trying to design the computer with the ability to consider solutions and then decide which to prioritize and which to discard. It’s also an interesting test of what search is evolving towards: not just matching keywords, but trying to intuit what the questioner is also asking. Getting to the heart of the question is also a part of what’s known as “business intelligence,” or trying to find the interesting needles in a haystack of seemingly random data [PCMag.com].
Watson is expected to improve upon IBM’s successful Deep Blue program, which beat—though the results were controversial—world chess champion Gary Kasparov in 1997. For the upcoming competition, IBM negotiated rules with Jeopardy producers that will allow the computer to receive questions via electronic text, which the human contestants will also be allowed to see in addition to hearing the questions spoken by host Alex Trebek. Watson will likely have an electronic connection to the Jeopardy! system for buzzing in, as there is no planned robotic or mechanical component [Scientific American]. However, Watson will read out his own answers with a voice synthesizer.
IBM says it may stage a few sparring matches this year, but asks viewers to stay tuned for the final man versus machine showdown in 2010.
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Image: Flickr / JoeDuck
April 30th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I’m excited! I totally dig jeopardy and I’m sure annoy everyone by shouting out the correct answers and then triumphantly doing a victory lap around the living room when I’m right. Be interesting to armchair compete against a computer, and I can’t wait for the day a computer can beat me… that mean I get to be even lazier than I am already and that’s a great thing. The day I can have a computer be my secretary and a robot organizing the paperwork will be the happiest day of my life.
May 1st, 2009 at 7:16 pm
robots will enslave us all!
May 2nd, 2009 at 9:45 am
I want it to have a bad Sean Connery imitation for a voice
September 29th, 2009 at 5:13 am
Well, to be honest, I am a litte scared about this. But then again, it would be great to have a conversation with a computer without it freaking out because of its stupidity and lack of language understanding.
However, Watson will have some advantages over the humans; he has had thousands of bits of information put into him, while us humans have to learn from the outside world. He will also recieve the information/clue faster than the humans, therefore figuring it out with a little more time. He can also buzz in faster in than any human thumb. :P
The computer is also huge! But then again, it has to be, so it can process the information fast enough.
How far we have come, soon computers will be able to take IQ tests…
April 5th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
JEOPARDY! , as you may know, is one of the most popular game shows on television and is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season. During my time here at SONY, I have had the good fortune to work on several games based on JEOPARDY! , including multiple versions for PCs and mobile phones, as well as skill-based and ITV versions.
August 10th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
I know this is an old blog post, but didn’t Watson end up winning that Jeopardy match? I am not sure if he did but I thought I read that somewhere.
Not sure how its development has come along since then though? Anyone know?