Can a Computer Beat the Best Jeopardy! Players?

kennyc · 02-10-2011, 09:15 PM

NEW YORK—The game show "Jeopardy!" will pit man versus machine this winter in a competition that will show how successful scientists are in creating a computer that can mimic human intelligence.

Two of the venerable game show's most successful champions—Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter—will play two games against "Watson," a computer program developed by IBM's artificial intelligence team. The matches will be spread over three days that will air Feb. 14-16, the game show said on Tuesday.

....

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_16852953

The Nova Program about the building of Watson:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/sm...-on-earth.html

Ervserver · 02-11-2011, 01:20 AM

Exciting ..however I don't think the computer will win

kennyc · 02-11-2011, 05:41 AM

I don't know. There have been many many trial runs over the last four years. I have my doubts too, but I also think it's possible.

No one ever thought a computer would be the world chess master either but Deep Blue is. And this is much closer to what I'd call "real" AI.

Pablo · 02-11-2011, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

No one ever thought a computer would be the world chess master either but Deep Blue is. And this is much closer to what I'd call "real" AI.

There's no such thing as real AI, whatever they say. Deep Blue may be a chess master but that only shows that it is a powerful calculator.

kennyc · 02-11-2011, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pablo

There's no such thing as real AI, whatever they say. Deep Blue may be a chess master but that only shows that it is a powerful calculator.

That just indicates that you do not understand what "real AI" is.

As I said Chess-Playing computers do not really fit the category, though once there were those that thought so.

Pablo · 02-11-2011, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

That just indicates that you do not understand what "real AI" is.

As I said Chess-Playing computers do not really fit the category, though once there were those that thought so.

So what is "real AI"?

kennyc · 02-11-2011, 07:15 AM

The Turing test.

Pablo · 02-11-2011, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

The Turing test.

I was so startled by your answer that I looked up what this Jeopardy! thing is about (never heard of it). Now I see.... I don't think a machine can successfully play a game like this.

dsvick · 02-11-2011, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

NEW YORK—The game show "Jeopardy!" will pit man versus machine this winter in a competition that will show how successful scientists are in creating a computer that can mimic human intelligence.

Since when is being good at Jeopardy a measure of human intelligence?

kennyc · 02-11-2011, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pablo

I was so startled by your answer that I looked up what this Jeopardy! thing is about (never heard of it). Now I see.... I don't think a machine can successfully play a game like this.

If you watch that Nova program that is in the link you might begin to think otherwise.

It will be interesting to see. The actual show airs next week.

kennyc · 02-11-2011, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsvick

Since when is being good at Jeopardy a measure of human intelligence?

To play the game requires many things we would consider intelligent behavior. In particular natural language understanding with significant nuances as jeopardy presents. The database search for possible answers is not such an intelligent thing but to determine what the best answer is following that search could be considered intelligent behavior to some extent.

Also the strategies applied in an attempt to win (i.e. beat the other players) the game.

Billi · 02-12-2011, 02:36 AM

I sincerely hope the computer will win! To read in the case of his defeat that Jeopardy is a more sophisticated game than chess would break my heart!

kennyc · 02-12-2011, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billi

I sincerely hope the computer will win! To read in the case of his defeat that Jeopardy is a more sophisticated game than chess would break my heart!

Chess has very specific rules which computers are good at. Language is vastly different.

Pablo · 02-12-2011, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billi

I sincerely hope the computer will win! To read in the case of his defeat that Jeopardy is a more sophisticated game than chess would break my heart!

No, that would be the wrong conclusion.

A four year old child cannot beat Kasparov at chess, but Deep Blue can.

You can read a Winnie the Pooh tale to a four year old child and after that he will be able to answer some simple questions about it. But if you give the tale to a computer as powerful as Deep Blue, it will not be able to answer the same questions.

So, is understanding a Winnie the Pooh tale harder than beating Kasparov at chess?

Answer:
No - for a human being
Yes - for a computer

Hamlet53 · 02-12-2011, 07:55 PM

There was a segment on this on the NPR program Science Friday yesterday.

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundown...wn.php?prgId=5

You can also have a go at this. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...ivia-game.html Unfortunately it is not the real Watson It's a less capable version). Also unlike real Jeopardy the computer will not attempt to answer until you either answer wrong or pass on the question. And it only lets you play once.

02-10-2011, 09:15 PM	#1
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Can a Computer Beat the Best Jeopardy! Players? NEW YORK—The game show "Jeopardy!" will pit man versus machine this winter in a competition that will show how successful scientists are in creating a computer that can mimic human intelligence. Two of the venerable game show's most successful champions—Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter—will play two games against "Watson," a computer program developed by IBM's artificial intelligence team. The matches will be spread over three days that will air Feb. 14-16, the game show said on Tuesday. .... http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_16852953 The Nova Program about the building of Watson: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/sm...-on-earth.html

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02-11-2011, 01:20 AM	#2
Ervserver Wizard Posts: 2,624 Karma: 1008294 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Iowa, USA Device: Nook Simple Touch	Exciting ..however I don't think the computer will win

02-11-2011, 05:41 AM	#3
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	I don't know. There have been many many trial runs over the last four years. I have my doubts too, but I also think it's possible. No one ever thought a computer would be the world chess master either but Deep Blue is. And this is much closer to what I'd call "real" AI.

02-11-2011, 07:15 AM	#7
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	The Turing test.

02-12-2011, 02:36 AM	#12
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	I sincerely hope the computer will win! To read in the case of his defeat that Jeopardy is a more sophisticated game than chess would break my heart!

02-12-2011, 07:55 PM	#15
Hamlet53 Nameless Being	There was a segment on this on the NPR program Science Friday yesterday. http://www.npr.org/templates/rundown...wn.php?prgId=5 You can also have a go at this. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...ivia-game.html Unfortunately it is not the real Watson It's a less capable version). Also unlike real Jeopardy the computer will not attempt to answer until you either answer wrong or pass on the question. And it only lets you play once.

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