# IBM Computer to Compete on Jeopardy! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492 "2009-04-27T13:38:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/21 "2009-04-27T17:16:10Z")
I think the toughest part will getting the computer to understand the question being asked. Once that’s established, scanning huge amounts of data for the correct entry is something computers are great at. But understanding natural language will be difficult. Would a wireless link to the internet to “Google” the answers be considered cheating? Id be curious to see that in action. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/22 "2009-04-27T18:29:56Z")
zoid, the computer will not be connected to the internet. I thought that it would have a huge advantage in researching, but without the net, the programmers will have to load every scrap of information it needs to answer, that’s a tall task. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/23 "2009-04-27T18:35:58Z")
I think it should have to stock itself with information before taping. Give it access to all previous Jeopardy shows and their answers/questions, glean what type of information it may need, connect it to the internet, and let it compile its own database in order to compete. That would be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/24 "2009-04-27T18:37:14Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Would a wireless link to the internet to “Google” the answers be considered cheating? Id be curious to see that in action. According to the link from the OP article, > [@](#): > > Watson will also incorporate massively parallel analytical capabilities and, just like human competitors, Watson will not be connected to the Internet or have any other outside assistance. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/25 "2009-04-27T18:45:19Z")
One reasonable restriction that might be placed on the computer is that it can’t buzz in unless and until it has the answer ready. The time allotted for the person who’s buzzed in to answer the question is more than enough for any modern computer to search its database. It could very easily buzz in the instant the light goes on, then take its time to come up with the answer, which really puts the human contestants at a disadvantage. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/26 "2009-04-27T18:47:38Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > zoid, the computer will not be connected to the internet. I thought that it would have a huge advantage in researching, but without the net, the programmers will have to load every scrap of information it needs to answer, that’s a tall task. Eh, all of the text in the english wikipedia is probably a few hundred gigs. Add a couple of similarily sized databases, and you’ve got all the information that’s likely to come up in 99% of Jeopardy questions on a few harddrives. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/27 "2009-04-27T18:48:19Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > One reasonable restriction that might be placed on the computer is that it can’t buzz in unless and until it has the answer ready. The time allotted for the person who’s buzzed in to answer the question is more than enough for any modern computer to search its database. It could very easily buzz in the instant the light goes on, then take its time to come up with the answer, which really puts the human contestants at a disadvantage. But people buzz in before they know the answer as well, anticipating they’ll be able to work out the answer in the allotted time. And even if you imposed the suggested restriction, it’s not that big of a handicap - this exercise isn’t to test the computer’s speed, it’s to test its ability to process the question. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/28 "2009-04-27T19:09:18Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Eh, all of the text in the english wikipedia is probably a few hundred gigs. Add a couple of similarily sized databases, and you’ve got all the information that’s likely to come up in 99% of Jeopardy questions on a few harddrives. Actually, thinking about this some more, IBM is probably much better off just searching a limited database like wikipedia then they are querying google. It’s faster, basically everything that’s likely to be in a Jeopardy question is already in there, everything on wikipedia is, at least in theory, factual, while there’s plenty on the internet at large that isn’t even supposed to be factual and the format is at least somewhat standardized. Plus there’s less risk of the computer coming up with an answer from a spammer web page that has managed to game google’s pagerank algorithm to make it look important and offering to enlarge Trebek’s penis as an answer. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/29 "2009-04-27T19:17:23Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > Next time, ask it the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. Just did so: > [@](#): > > START’s reply > ===\> What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything? > > The answer is forty-two. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/30 "2009-04-27T19:17:28Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > But people buzz in before they know the answer as well, anticipating they’ll be able to work out the answer in the allotted time. And even if you imposed the suggested restriction, it’s not that big of a handicap - this exercise isn’t to test the computer’s speed, it’s to test its ability to process the question. When I was on, I almost always knew the answers that I knew before Alex finished. After all, you can read them faster than he says them. This is even easier if the text version is presented at the same time the question appears on the screen. There are two tricky things here. The first, as you said, is natural language processing. The second, however, is representing knowledge in a way it can be accessed quickly in unusual ways. For instance, the Final Jeopardy question when I was on hinged on you know who the co-stars of Miami Vice were, and that Don Johnson was on another show. Neither of us got it, but a computer making that connection would be very impressive. [Here](http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=249) are the questions from one show. One question from Directors > [@](#): > > 2 years after a riding accident left him paralyzed, he directed the HBO drama “In The Gloaming” would be simple for the computer, since it can find the answer by looking up the show’s director without know about Chris Reeve’s accident. For people, the accident part is the useful clue. On the other hand > [@](#): > > Between August 5 & Sept. 6, 1953 Operation Big Switch was the final exchange of these would be a bit tricky for a computer (but simple for people.) The category is Korean War, but would both the beginning and end of prisoner exchange be in the database? For us, just the word exchange gives the answer. These are both $100 questions from the first round, and pretty easy. This $400 poetry question > [@](#): > > Odd thing, but she “heard a fly buzz when” she “died” & “felt a funeral in” her “brain” is also fairly easy for people, but searching through entire poems of all female poets might be a bit tough to do in 20 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/31 "2009-04-27T19:27:30Z")
On some questions (answers?) I think that the computer will definitely have an advantage – these are the ones that are totally fact-based. Examples would be words that fit a certain pattern and definition, historical events and figures, and the more obscure the fact the greater the advantage. I think that questions that are punny or very topical (real recent current events) may give the computer problems. In any case this is a very interesting experiment. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/32 "2009-04-27T19:28:00Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > is also fairly easy for people, but searching through entire poems of all female poets might be a bit tough to do in 20 seconds. Maybe, but the nice thing about Jeopardy, is often the answers to all but the hardest questions are one of the few most famous members of the given category. For example, I guessed the answer to your question I quoted was Emily Dickenson even though I’ve never heard the poem, just because she’s the first person that pops into my head when I hear “female poet”. Similarily, the answers to questions about magicians tend to be “Harry Houdini”, famous celloists are usually “Yo-Yo Ma”. So the computer doesn’t have to search through every poem ever written to find a match. If it starts with just the most famous hundred poets, I bet it will get a hit in 90% or more of cases. And if it doesn’t then it can move on to a larger and more complete database. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/33 "2009-04-27T19:31:46Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > But people buzz in before they know the answer as well, anticipating they’ll be able to work out the answer in the allotted time. And even if you imposed the suggested restriction, it’s not that big of a handicap - this exercise isn’t to test the computer’s speed, it’s to test its ability to process the question. I’m working off two assumptions, one of which is wrong as your last sentence says, and the other may well be wrong: 1. If it’s being placed in a competitive environment, it should be set up so it provides competition to the other contestants. 2. Its search speed is equivalent or nearly so to a person’s reflex speed. A computer’s “reflexes” are so fast that they may as well be instant. If it operated off the idea of “buzz first, rack brain second” then its reflexes would always beat out the humans’. Making it think first adds enough delay to make it competitive. Perhaps a conditional: if nobody buzzes in after 1 second or something, it buzzes in while still searching for the answer. If it’s capable of getting the answer before Trebek finishes speaking, then sure, it can buzz in instantly. I wouldn’t want to hamstring it so the human contestants are able to best it, I’m just interested in keeping the playing field level. If it’s just a test of the processing ability, then don’t make it a competition with other players at all. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/34 "2009-04-27T20:04:16Z")
Lets go blow the thing up. You know, to stop judgment day and all. Who’s with me? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/35 "2009-04-27T20:10:08Z")
Hey–I already made that joke! ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/36 "2009-04-27T20:41:36Z")
I want to see how it handles the “Before and After” category. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/37 "2009-04-27T20:43:46Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Hey–I already made that joke! What joke? 😃 Oh well, I should have read the post more carefully. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/38 "2009-04-27T20:44:22Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I want to see how it handles the “Before and After” category. Yeah, the pun categories are going to be a major obstacle too. ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/39 "2009-04-27T21:07:50Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I also wonder if they’ll bring in Jennings to compete against it. Pfft. Rather it sounds like an excuse to bring back Larissa Kelly. Not that they should ever need an excuse to bring her back, but by god, if you have one, better make use of it! ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492/40 "2009-04-27T21:10:22Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I asked it “what is the meaning of life?” and it gave me the dictionary definition of the word. Cute. I’m fairly impressed with its parsing ability: > [@](#): > > ===\> how much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood > > Sorry - I don’t know how much wood a wood chuck could chuck if it could chuck it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ibm-computer-to-compete-on-jeopardy/494492.md?page=3)