IBM’s Watson Beats Former Jeopardy! Champs in Practice Round

We posted a couple of months ago about the computer that would become the first to compete on the popular quiz show Jeopardy!, and as the episode is set to air on February 14th, we’re getting close. At the time of our last post, we mentioned that the computer, IBM’s “Watson”, was practicing with prior Jeopardy! contestants, but at that time, the results were unknown.

Well, a week ago, Watson took on two previous Jeopardy! stars for a practice round… and won. The final score was $4,400 for Watson, $3,400 for Ken Jennings and $1,200 for Brad Rutter. Overall, Watson didn’t quite obliterate the competition, but it did prove that this competition is real, and no doubt came off as a major success for Watson’s developers.

Of course, the ultimate goal here isn’t just to win a Jeopardy! round, but the developers hope that Watson can help change the world, by enabling effective help desks among other things. Most importantly, IBM sees huge potential for Watson in the medical field, where there are a billion different opportunities.

If Watson can tackle Jeopardy! questions, then I envision servers backed with the same technology that could deliver real answers to questions people might have. Imagine typing in a question and having the server spit back a real answer or solution. To me, that would be amazing, and I hope to see Watson’s progress continue at the rapid rate it has been, and I especially can’t wait for the episode of Jeopardy! to air next month… it should be interesting.

IBM Corp.’s “Watson” computer defeated the top two “Jeopardy!” champions of all time during a practice round Thursday, showcasing the future of artificial intelligence and setting the stage for filming Friday of two official matches of man vs. machine on the game show. Undeterred by the lights, cameras and dozens of spectators Watson coolly beat Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter to the buzzer right out of the gate, answering the first four questions correctly.