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.
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.
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.
It’s right next to the “Faaaaaabulous!” key!
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.
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.
That article really made me smile, and greatly improved my opinion of 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:
Rather than hijack this thread, I thought that further discussion about the Time article deserved its own thread here:
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.
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.
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!
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.
Well, how much do you know about human keyboards?
You mean like the Dvorak keyboard?
he asks hoping the joke is self-evident…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.