# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/81 "2011-02-15T19:46:46Z")
> [@jacquilynne](#): > > Here’s a blog entry on it: > [IBM Research: How Watson “sees,” “hears,” and “speaks” to play Jeopardy!](http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-watson-sees-hears-and-speaks-to.html) From there: > [@](#): > > Watson’s buzzing is not instantaneous. For some clues he may not complete the question answering computation in time to make the decision to buzz in. For all clues, even if he does have an answer and confidence ready in time, he still has to respond to the signal and physically depress the button. > > The best human contestants don’t wait for, but instead anticipate when Trebek will finish reading a clue. They time their “buzz” for the instant when the last word leaves Trebek’s mouth and the “Buzzer Enable” light turns on. Watson cannot anticipate. He can only react to the enable signal. **While Watson reacts at an impressive speed, humans can and do buzz in faster than his best possible reaction time.** My bolding. Assuming I’m reading this correctly, this is quite surprising. Watson receives an electric signal indicating he’s allowed to buzz in, and if he has an answer ready he buzzes immediately. I would have expected this to be essentially instantaneous, but apparently humans can still beat him. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/82 "2011-02-15T19:56:36Z")
It’s an actual, physical, button pressing lever that he uses, rather than an electronic signal. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/83 "2011-02-15T20:10:00Z")
> [@soulmurk](#): > > They stated, I believe in the beginning of the show when Alex was giving the tour of the actual facility where all the hardware is stored, that Watson was not connected to the internet and so could not use it to search for answers. I Was asking specifically what information was put into his data bank, not where the bank was stored. I read down thread that answers [questions] from previous games were given to Watson, but this still doesn’t IMHO get at what I’m asking. > [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > More appropriate than you know. This was the first song a computer was ever programmed to sing: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41U78QP8nBk&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41U78QP8nBk&feature=related) > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > It’s annoying that Watson answers every musical question with “what is- A Bicycle Built for 2?” It would seem that I’m not the only one that loves me some Kubrick. If I knew this at one point in time, I forgot it until you posted this. . Just found out I wont be able to watch Wednesday. But, I think going to orientation for my new job kinda trumps watching Jeopardy. Good to see J! archive is already on top of it. There are certain sites I do not need to know exist. Thankfully, however, I knew of J Archive before today. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/84 "2011-02-15T20:34:38Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > I Was asking specifically what information was put into his data bank, not where the bank was stored. The information was selected by the IBM team. I have no doubt that much of it came from the internet, but Watson is not hooked up to the internet during the show. From what I’ve read, the data is stored in natural language format, books, movie scripts, etc, and the machine sorts through that format to locate its answer. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/85 "2011-02-15T20:37:06Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > I Was asking specifically what information was put into his data bank, not where the bank was stored. Watson has thousands of terabytes of information stored in its memory. Webpages, documents, books, anything that could have been poured into its memory. The Nova special made it very clear that having the correct information at hand wouldn’t be the issue - it would be processing the clue and utilizing its search algorithms to find the answer. Additionally, one of the bigger obstacles is teaching Watson “common sense/facts”. Teams came up with about 6 million “rules” for it - “things that are dead remain in that state”, and anything else that people generally know/understand but isn’t going to be found in a book of facts. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/86 "2011-02-15T20:42:45Z")
> [@jacquilynne](#): > > It’s an actual, physical, button pressing lever that he uses, rather than an electronic signal. Right, but how long does it take him to press it? I would not have thought it would take very long. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/87 "2011-02-15T20:47:18Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > Right, but how long does it take him to press it? I would not have thought it would take very long. I can’t imagine it takes much shorter a length of time than it does for me to press the button, and I have the added benefit of being able to anticipate how long it will take Alex to finish. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/88 "2011-02-15T22:33:56Z")
Final Jeopardy! Answer and Question of Game I Category: US Cities [spoiler] Its largest airport is named for WWII hero, its 2nd largest, for a WWII Battle. Ken and Brad both got it right Chicago, and Watson answered ‘What is Toronto???’ Huh? the category was US Cities[/spoiler] ---
**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 15, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/89 "2011-02-15T22:56:27Z")
Nice wager, Watson. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/90 "2011-02-15T23:16:06Z")
Chat with Ken Jennings [http://live.washingtonpost.com/jeopardy-ken-jennings.html?hpid=talkbox1](http://live.washingtonpost.com/jeopardy-ken-jennings.html?hpid=talkbox1) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/91 "2011-02-15T23:34:47Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Nice wager, Watson. 😃 Actually all three wagers were kinda of strange. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/92 "2011-02-16T00:18:37Z")
i for one welcome our new computer overloads. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/93 "2011-02-16T00:26:46Z")
Watson was being kind of a jerk with those wagers. ---
**Author:** ![Raskolnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@Raskolnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raskolnikov)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/94 "2011-02-16T00:27:16Z")
I call B.S. Somethings not right here. Watson rings in first almost every time. There was a stretch of like 20 questions where he did that. Don’t tell me Ken and Brad didn’t know alot of those answers either. it’s just not realistic. That and this is basically just one big IBM commercial has me saying: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/95 "2011-02-16T00:29:47Z")
So, what was the final result of the first game? (I take it there’s another one, as this runs tomorrow, too?) Feel free to spoiler. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/96 "2011-02-16T00:31:00Z")
you can see Brad and Ken trying to ring in, but Watson must know exactly the right time to do it ---
**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 16, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/97 "2011-02-16T00:31:37Z")
In Jeopardy, it’s not uncommon that all three contestants know the correct response, which has to be frustrating when you don’t have the opportunity to respond because your opponent is faster. Buzzer timing = key. The robot’s reflexes are, apparently, faster than the humans’. Them’s the breaks. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/98 "2011-02-16T00:31:39Z")
Tomorrow will be a normal game without all the extra filler stuff. Watson does seem to have an advantage on the buzzer. I wonder how he knows when Trebek stops talking since he can’t hear? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/99 "2011-02-16T00:32:17Z")
Scores for 1st game: 4,800 Ken 35,734 for Watson and 10,400 for Ben. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340/100 "2011-02-16T00:33:19Z")
I saw on another board where someone said the Toronto answer was a joke since he was so far ahead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-champs-vs-computer/571340.md?page=6)