> Did anyone see the IBM computer playing Jeopardy..
>> I don't get it. What exactly was the point of this
>> demonstration?
>
> To show how clever they have become with expert systems?
>
>> Sure it has one of the better text to speech engines
>> I've ever heard. And the speech recognition worked very
>> well (assuming it is using one..?).
>>
>> But as far as answering trivia questions goes... just
>> rig it up to google or wolfram alpha.. how can it lose???
>> Google can answer in milliseconds. While a human is still
>> listening to the questions.
>>
>> I'm assuming it has many encyclopedia's of knowledge
>> available. How can it lose? This is nothing like playing
>> chess masters.
>
> I suspect it demonstrates a lot of clever algorithms at
> work under the hood even if it does rely on brute search
> the way Deep Blue did. I suspect it is a long way from
> being able to hold a normal conversation. We must always
> be careful of the Eliza effect.
>
>
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I'm so proud of myself I can't shit! Tonight (well, last night), under the category, "Keys on the keyboard" or thereabouts, the clue was, "A garment that hangs straight down from the shoulders." Watson guessed, "chenille," Ken guessed "A?" and Brad didn't even ring in.
I GOT IT! The answer was "shift!"
I have beat Ken Jennings AND the smartest computer in the world!
(well, on one question, but that's infinitely more than zero!)
Cheers! Rich