Image by LeeLeFever via FlickrAn IBM computer named Watson defeated two human competitors--past champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter--to take the million-dollar prize on a special edition of TV's "Jeopardy". Since computers can't spend money (unless it's the virtual kind), IBM says it is giving the prize winnings to an alleged charity.This is the most buzz "Jeopardy" has had since Jennings set a record for consecutive wins a few years ago. At times, the two-game, three-day competition played like an infomercial for IBM. They spent so much time explaining Watson to the audience that they almost forgot to play the game.
Watson isn't infallible. Though it racked up more points than either Jennings or Rutter could muster, not to mention being programmed to be quicker on the signaling devices, Big Blue's creation still got some things wrong just to prove it could be--human. Take the Final Jeopardy category U.S. Cities. The answer: This city has two airports. One was named for a World War II hero, and the other for a famous battle. The correct question: What is Chicago (for O'Hare and Midway airports)? Watson's response was: What is Toronto?
"Jeopardy", which has been hosted by Alex Trebek since the syndicated version went on the air in 1984, is still the best game show on TV. They deserve credit for keeping difficult categories like Shakespeare, the Bible and classical music in the mix. But we can certainly do without the word game categories that make the show and the contestants look ridiculous, as well as the celebrity and kids tournaments.
Some fear that, with Watson's victory, this is the beginning of the end for the human race. Not so fast. Maybe someday computers will be doing all our thinking for us. But who's going to put in the information? As far as we know, computers aren't capable of doing that. Maybe IBM is working on it right now . . .
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