February 15th, 2011 / 2:47 pm
Web Hype

Jeopardy lit challenge

11 Comments

  1. zusya

      i feel like pynchon would be doing a lot more giggling than is written here. did this jeopardy computer actually compete yet?

  2. deadgod

      The computer is set up to be faster on the response clicker than humans are usually able to be, which is pretty funny, because this part of the show – who rings in the quickest after the ‘answer’ is finished being read – is an unfair sorter of the whizzest kid.

  3. deadgod

      The computer is set up to be faster on the response clicker than humans are usually able to be, which is pretty funny, because this part of the show – who rings in the quickest after the ‘answer’ is finished being read – is an unfair sorter of the whizzest kid.

  4. zusya

      http://venturebeat.com/2011/02/15/ibm-watson-jeopardy-2/

      yep. it ‘obliterated’ them. this is odd: In an early Daily Double question, Watson wagered an oddly precise $6,435, which drew laughs from the crowd. Jeopardy host Alex Trebek previously noted that Watson had a habit of odd Daily Double wagers, which has befuddled its IBM researchers.

  5. deadgod

      I doubt that “befuddled” (not the reportage; the “researchers”‘ claim), though I can’t imagine what industrial espionage scenario would make it worth their while to lie. Do they really not have any idea of how the bet-calculation algorithm they programmed is playing out? – they haven’t been playing with the machine since they got it up-and-running, and often enough to identify patterns that arise from their own programmed algorithm?? For sure, I don’t want a mystery-meat program to calculate the anaesthesia dosage for my next [knock wood] operation. “HAL? HAL! – open the door.”

      Also, I thought that final-Jeopardy bet was more foolish than the goofy ‘question’. If you’re more than twice the second-place person, double their score and bet enough that, if you get it wrong, you’re still a dollar ahead of them if they double up. Come on, now – it’s house money you’re playing with! (The only exception I would entertain would be a category I’m hopeless in. “U. S. Cities”?? – what the hell.)

  6. zusya

      there’s a bunch of torontos in the US.

  7. zusya
  8. zusya
  9. deadgod

      Yes; on the second day of the (televised) two-day contest, Ken had 18,000 going into Final – and it was an easy Final. (He only bet a grand, knowing he couldn’t catch Watson in the combined total and wanting to win the 2nd-place cash.)

      I think Watson’s programmers put a tiny delay into Watson’s ring-in ‘reflex’ after the practice and first count-it rounds; yesterday, both guys were getting in with ‘questions’. Or maybe the players just learned to be quicker?

  10. deadgod

      Wait; those are individual ‘questions’, exemplifying particular game situations. It doesn’t look like Watson is ‘losing practice rounds’ – more than maybe one – here. The next week-and-a-half will feature these players in the show’s regular slot, right?

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