Re:Day 1: IBM Watson Ties for first on Jeopardy
by steveklabnik on Tuesday February 15, 2011 @10:00AM
(#2221391)
The first rule of competitive game playing is that anything in the rules is... game.
If it helps your bruised human ego, another human player could attempt to exploit this exact same weakness.
(I don't know if Watson is programmed to do this or if it is an actual weakness of human players.)
Re:Day 1: IBM Watson Ties for first on Jeopardy
by barrkel on Tuesday February 15, 2011 @10:06AM
(#2221426)
I think this is precisely the thing about AI which makes it so interesting. An intelligence which is not a mere emulation of the human will be alien, and through its strangeness we can learn more both our limitations, as well as complement our own abilities.
Re:Day 1: IBM Watson Ties for first on Jeopardy
by hallman76 on Tuesday February 15, 2011 @01:04PM
(#2222366)
It doesn't feel like it's a fair fight otherwise, since it means he's exploiting a weakness intrinsic to his competitors
Late in the first round you can see Jennings change his strategy a bit -- he starts ringing in before he knows the answer. Jennings is exploiting the fact that Watson won't ring in until it has confidence in an answer.
Re:Day 1: IBM Watson Ties for first on Jeopardy
by bitwize on Tuesday February 15, 2011 @04:51PM
(#2223512)
That's awesome. He can make that strategy pay off because he's Ken freaking Jennings. Usually the money penalty for buzzing in but answering incorrectly (or not at all) would dissuade a contestant from buzzing in before actually knowing the answer.
I noticed the same thing, but I really hoped it was unintentional. It doesn't feel like it's a fair fight otherwise, since it means he's exploiting a weakness intrinsic to his competitors. The whole point of this competition is to show that a computer can compete and win at a human level. If it weren't, then why force him to physically push a button to ring in? If Watson is intentionally jumping categories to confuse humans, then it sort of feels like he's cheating a bit.
As I write this, I realize a lot of this comment is motivated by my bruised human ego, but it just doesn't feel quite right to me.