# Jeopardy! Champs vs. Computer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340 "2011-02-14T18:48:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/181 "2011-02-17T14:59:41Z")
Also, when Wastson won a double jeopardy yesterday he wagered a very strange amount, like $1,246 or something. Does anyone know what his DD wagering strategy was? How about which dollar amounts to pick when? Humans usually go from low to high dollar amounts. What was with wagering seemingly randomly? I suspect it was a search for the DD, which evidently are not randomly spread across the screen. ---
**Author:** ![KittenKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kittenkat/32/306_2.png) [@KittenKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KittenKat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/182 "2011-02-17T14:59:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No, Watson did not get any of those questions right. He wasn’t able to link up the concepts. Teasing out hints and handling wordplay were a problem for him. He didn’t get any of the One Buck or Less clues either, and I remember some of his guesses were way off. He was also totally clueless on “The New Yorker’s 1959 review of this said in its brevity & clarity it is “unlike most such manuals, a book, as well as a tool.”” [I didn’t know the answer, but Watson said “What is Dorothy Parker” - he didn’t get they were looking for a book.](http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=3577) The correct answer was _The Elements of Style,_ and that was in third place on the graphic they showed with Watson’s top three possibilities. There seemed to be quite a few clues last night where Watson had the correct answer in second or third place. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/183 "2011-02-17T15:08:43Z")
> [@AndrewL](#): > > I also find it amusing that Watson seems to have no idea what keys are on a computer keyboard, I don’t think it got a single question from that category right. What, you don’t have a “chemise” key? Did anyone watch the credits rolling, when Ken stood behind Watson (which was actually just a very large vertically oriented monitor on a stand), put his hands out and made robotic motions? Hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/184 "2011-02-17T15:17:14Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > What, you don’t have a “chemise” key? It’s right next to the “Faaaaaabulous!” key! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/185 "2011-02-17T15:26:30Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > No, Ken Jennings had over $17,000. If Watson had bet $0, he could have lost. Watson had 30-odd grand after each game. Ken didn’t even have 20k at the end of the second, and pretty much nothing from the first. Brad was in even worse shape. Watson’s lead was insurmountable with his betting strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/186 "2011-02-17T15:29:22Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > What, you don’t have a “chemise” key? > > Did anyone watch the credits rolling, when Ken stood behind Watson (which was actually just a very large vertically oriented monitor on a stand), put his hands out and made robotic motions? Hilarious. And Brad gave Watson Bunny ears too. - Given that they lost, I still think they came into the game thinking it was pure icing. I mean, Ken and Brad both had their 15 minutes already… so this was just pure fun. The guaranteed money didn’t hurt either. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/187 "2011-02-17T15:40:28Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Here’s an [article](http://www.slate.com/id/2284721/) by Ken Jennings at [slate.com](http://slate.com). That article really made me smile, and greatly improved my opinion of Ken Jennings. > [@](#): > > So my defeat at the hands of a machine has a happy ending, after all. At least until the whole system becomes sentient and figures out the nuclear launch codes. But I figure that’s years away. --Ken Jennings He just came out and said what we’re all thinking. 😉 On a related note, Time magazine has a related cover story this week, with an article about the hypothesized computer Singularity: From the [Time article](http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048138,00.html): > [@](#): > > …Kurzweil believes that we’re approaching a moment when computers will become intelligent, and not just intelligent but more intelligent than humans. When that happens, humanity — our bodies, our minds, our civilization — will be completely and irreversibly transformed. He believes that this moment is not only inevitable but imminent. According to his calculations, the end of human civilization as we know it is about 35 years away. > > …Maybe we’ll merge with them to become super-intelligent cyborgs, using computers to extend our intellectual abilities the same way that cars and planes extend our physical abilities. Maybe the artificial intelligences will help us treat the effects of old age and prolong our life spans indefinitely. Maybe we’ll scan our consciousnesses into computers and live inside them as software, forever, virtually. Maybe the computers will turn on humanity and annihilate us. > > …Kurzweil admits that there’s a fundamental level of risk associated with the Singularity that’s impossible to refine away, simply because we don’t know what a highly advanced artificial intelligence, finding itself a newly created inhabitant of the planet Earth, would choose to do. It might not feel like competing with us for resources. > > …Watson isn’t strong AI, but if strong AI happens, it will arrive gradually, bit by bit, and this will have been one of the bits. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/188 "2011-02-17T15:56:32Z")
> [@robby](#): > > …On a related note, Time magazine has a related cover story this week, with an article about the hypothesized computer Singularity… Rather than hijack this thread, I thought that further discussion about the Time article deserved its own thread here: [Computer Singularity by 2045?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=597496) ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/189 "2011-02-17T16:00:21Z")
I thought for sure Watson was going to answer “Dracula” for the Final Jeopardy! It seemed just like some of the other clues in the 2nd game where Watson misinterpreted what the answer was asking for. Maybe because it had 30 seconds it had plenty of time to chew on the right response. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/190 "2011-02-17T16:19:03Z")
Same! I didn’t think the wording of the clue could sufficiently guide him to the correct answer, but how wrong I was. In five years, that robot is going to be my boss. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/191 "2011-02-17T16:36:48Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > “I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords” - Ken Jennings > > Words that will live in infamy. > [@Indyellen](#): > > This cracked me up when I was watching. I know it’s an Internet meme, not an SDMB meme, but it made me wonder… If I found out that Ken Jennings was a Doper, I would not be surprised. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if I found out he was Cecil Adams himself! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/192 "2011-02-17T17:11:40Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > And Brad gave Watson Bunny ears too. they weren’t bunny ears. he was dissing the machine for getting his butt kicked. Ken seemed more respectful to the computer overloads until after Brads actions. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/193 "2011-02-17T18:29:20Z")
> [@](#): > > I also find it amusing that Watson seems to have no idea what keys are on a computer keyboard, I don’t think it got a single question from that category right. Well, how much do you know about human keyboards? ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/194 "2011-02-17T18:32:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, how much do you know about human keyboards? You mean like the Dvorak keyboard? he asks hoping the joke is self-evident… ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Astronaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bad\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/195 "2011-02-17T19:44:13Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > I thought for sure Watson was going to answer “Dracula” for the Final Jeopardy! It seemed just like some of the other clues in the 2nd game where Watson misinterpreted what the answer was asking for. Maybe because it had 30 seconds it had plenty of time to chew on the right response. I noticed that Watson’s display showed him “thinking” for most of the Final Jeopardy song, but turned green before the end - at that point he must have been supremely confident that he had found the correct answer. I imagine having more than a few seconds to decide on an answer improves his accuracy a fair bit. ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/196 "2011-02-17T23:11:27Z")
> [@robby](#): > > That article really made me smile, and greatly improved my opinion of Ken Jennings. Between his original Jeopardy run, his hilarious blog, his awesome Tuesday Trivia, and the fact he looks like Hermie from the claymation Rudolph Christmas special, I highly doubt there is anything in the world that could make me like the dude more. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/197 "2011-02-18T00:09:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So, if it’s cheating for the computer to use its own reflexes, why isn’t it cheating for the humans to do the same? Whoever has the best reflexes has an advantage: That’s part of the game. Yeah, Watson has strengths that humans don’t have, but then again, he also has weaknesses humans don’t have. Should the human contestants not be allowed to hear other contestants’ wrong answers, since Watson can’t? I agree with this. And don’t forget that the humans have the advantage of seeing and hearing Alex reading out the answer so that they can **anticipate** when he’ll be finish reading it. They can time their buzz-ins accordingly. Watson can’t hear and has to wait for the “OK to buzz in” signal which has a built-in lag since it has to be given by another human off-stage. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/198 "2011-02-18T00:13:05Z")
for all I complained about Watson’s unfair advantage on the buzzer, after watching 5 minutes of Teen Jeopardy I would much rather be watching Watson again ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/199 "2011-02-18T00:25:29Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > for all I complained about Watson’s unfair advantage on the buzzer, after watching 5 minutes of Teen Jeopardy I would much rather be watching Watson again The only thing worse is Kid Jeopardy. I was hoping the other “special” episodes Alex mentioned last Friday would be another Celebrity tournament, as that is slightly better than Teen Jeopardy. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/200 "2011-02-18T04:47:51Z")
I LOVE the celebrity tournaments! IIRC, the last two years winners participants included Cheech Marin, Michael McKean and Jane Curtin. Comedians and stoners. Cheech won it two years ago, I believe. Go fig. Some folks out there the Hollywood aren’t actually as dumb as they act. That being said, I dislike the kiddie shows. Sheesh. They’re no competition. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340.md?page=11)