Elementary, my dear Watson: Jeopardy Blues
- Primula Baggins
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I was pretty sure that would happen, and I still enjoyed seeing how it worked.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Alex Trebek did a wonderful job treating the three contestants with the same mix of impartiality and respect. In a way, his treatment of Watson helped "humanise" it.
exploiting the long editting window, with a nod to n.e.b.
exploiting the long editting window, with a nod to n.e.b.
Last edited by SirDennis on Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:00 am, edited 2 times in total.
I didn't see much of the shows, but this past weekend or maybe last week, PBS did a show about the whole Watson thing. It was pretty interesting how it came about and the challenges that were faced.
Ah it was Nova. Here is the link; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/smart ... earth.html
Ah it was Nova. Here is the link; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/smart ... earth.html
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I expect it did. I didn't see this particular tourney, but I think that for many or perhaps even most of the clues, all three players knew the question before Trebek finished reading the answer. I have nothing like the talent of a Jennings or Rutter, but at home I tend to respond correctly about 90% of the time to the clues on a regular Jeopardy game -- and I usually can tell before Trebek has read the entire clue whether I know the answer or not. Under pressure in L.A., I found I knew about 80% of the responses as the clues were read, but I only managed to buzz in first about 33% of the time. The questions this week were surely much more difficult (actually I'm sure they were, having just glanced at the first day's clues --edit: and now the second and third days' clues-- in the J! Archive*), but the competitors were of a very high caliber. Note that the players mustn't buzz in until Trebek finishes speaking and a producer listening to him presses a button. The players know this has happened when they see a little light go off (or on, I can't remember). If a player buzzes in before then, s/he is locked out for a fraction of a second (one-tenth?) which is usually sufficient time for someone else to answer first.vison wrote:I wonder if part of its advantage is speed. I would expect that the builders allowed for that - Watson had an actual button, but the signal to press that button might be quicker in a computer's wiring than in a human's. The guys that were playing were the best Jeopardy players ever and I am sure they could have answered the questions just as well, but it seemed to me that Watson might have had a speed advantage.
*It's interesting to see that Watson didn't get a single clue correct in the "Name the Decade" category in the first game or the "Actors Who Direct", "One Buck or Less", or "Also on Your Computer Keys" categories in the second game (in the first two cases, I knew four of the five); I wonder what that means.
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Heh! There's a clue in the second game I knew that none of the contestants got correct. (But lots of clues in both games I would never get.)
I generally do very well playing at home, but I would probably be completely inept on the actual game. We used to play Trivial Pursuit a lot, but no one ever wants to play it now.
So what was the clue no one got correct in the second game?
I thought the "Computer Keys" clues were like the airport question Watson blew: Watson answered "Toronto" but had been asked for a US city, and on the computer keyboard there is no "chemise" clue - yet it gave that answer. I sat here yelling, "SHIFT!!!! IT'S SHIFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" but no one seemed to hear me. "Home" is where the heart is, which Watson got, but its second choice was "delete" which Lord_M and I had a good laff over.
So what was the clue no one got correct in the second game?
I thought the "Computer Keys" clues were like the airport question Watson blew: Watson answered "Toronto" but had been asked for a US city, and on the computer keyboard there is no "chemise" clue - yet it gave that answer. I sat here yelling, "SHIFT!!!! IT'S SHIFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" but no one seemed to hear me. "Home" is where the heart is, which Watson got, but its second choice was "delete" which Lord_M and I had a good laff over.
Dig deeper.
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"As of 2010, Croatia & Macedonia are candidates but this is the only former Yugoslav republic in the EU"vison wrote:So what was the clue no one got correct in the second game?
Rutter guessed Bosnia. Watson guessed Serbia. Jennings didn't guess.
Until reading your comment, I hadn't realized that Watson's top three choices for each clue were shown. This is a fun look at some of them. "When the computers come and take over our world, make sure you’re wearing a clean pair of underwear.""Home" is where the heart is, which Watson got, but its second choice was "delete" which Lord_M and I had a good laff over.
- Túrin Turambar
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That was a riotN.E. Brigand wrote:Until reading your comment, I hadn't realized that Watson's top three choices for each clue were shown. This is a fun look at some of them. "When the computers come and take over our world, make sure you’re wearing a clean pair of underwear.""Home" is where the heart is, which Watson got, but its second choice was "delete" which Lord_M and I had a good laff over.
I'd love to see some of the early games, while he was still being tweaked.
I tried to watch the last show when it aired last night, but reception was too crappy. I absolutely hate the way broadcast digital signals act when quality is poor. With analog, you could get a fuzzy picture and still hear all the sounds and understand what is going on.
With digital, first it starts with large pixels freezing up, then the sound starts blipping in and out and then what's left of the picture starts jumping 10 to 20 seconds at a time, plays a bit and repeats cycle until the TV gives up and puts up a blank screen that says "poor signal quality".
There's a reason we mostly watch DVDs.
With digital, first it starts with large pixels freezing up, then the sound starts blipping in and out and then what's left of the picture starts jumping 10 to 20 seconds at a time, plays a bit and repeats cycle until the TV gives up and puts up a blank screen that says "poor signal quality".
There's a reason we mostly watch DVDs.
IBM supercomputer Watson to assist doctors
Here's something really useful for Watson to do. Other suggested applications were looking up relevant case law.
Here's something really useful for Watson to do. Other suggested applications were looking up relevant case law.
"Imagine having the ability to take in all the information around a patient's medical care -- symptoms, findings, patient interviews and diagnostic studies," WellPoint chief medical officer Sam Nussbaum said.
"Then, imagine using Watson analytic capabilities to consider all of the prior cases, the state-of-the-art clinical knowledge in the medical literature and clinical best practices to help a physician advance a diagnosis and guide a course of treatment."
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!