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

Jeopardy lit challenge

11 Comments

  1. February 15th, 2011 / 8:25 pm zusya—

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

  2. February 16th, 2011 / 3:41 am 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. February 16th, 2011 / 3:41 am 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. February 16th, 2011 / 8:16 am 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. February 16th, 2011 / 2:42 pm 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. February 17th, 2011 / 8:17 am zusya—

      there’s a bunch of torontos in the US.

  7. February 17th, 2011 / 11:04 am zusya—
  8. February 17th, 2011 / 11:08 am zusya—
  9. February 17th, 2011 / 2:06 pm 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. February 17th, 2011 / 2:13 pm 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?

  11. February 27th, 2011 / 1:28 am Sordid Links « Cheap Talk—

      […] Watson v Pynchon v McCarthy […]