December 14, 2010

IBM’s supercomputer Watson to battle ‘Jeopardy’ contestants in a wit battle

by Gareth Mankoo

What could one do to avoid the wrath of a brilliantly constructed supercomputer at a quiz event? I don’t know either. But, maybe the fateful contestants of Jeopardy, a quiz show, will have better explanation to give, once Watson’s done with them. The three episodes of the show will be broadcast between Feb 14th and 16th. The computer is known for its artificial intelligence and if it does beat humans in the quiz, we may well be seeing an electronic prodigy. The game involves good decision making skills and quick recollections of past events.

The IBM Watson is named after the IBM man himself. Dave Ferruci, researcher and Watson project lead says, “Determining the confidence is a really big part of the challenge”. He continues, “Humans can know what they know very rapidly. This is something the Watson computer is working very hard to do.”
PCWorld