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A comment on Day 1: IBM Watson Ties for first on Jeopardy. Parent comment

Re:Day 1: IBM Watson Ties for first on Jeopardy by TheAmazingIdiot on Tuesday February 15, 2011 @12:34PM (#2222219)
Other articles, not linked directly here, indicate that there is a lockout on the buzzer if Watson hits it too soon. I've heard anywhere from 300-1000ms delay if you punch in the buzzer before Trebeck stops speaking.

I also read that due to buzzer experience, Ken Jennings also advocated to the producers that competitors should be given practice on the buzzer before doing the game. It would make a more fair game. Honorable "battle", if you will.

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Re:Day 1: IBM Watson Ties for first on Jeopardy by dimatura on Tuesday February 15, 2011 @12:48PM (#2222281)
According to the designers Watson waits for the light indicators (not seen on TV) that you can press the button, so no lockout. Humans often try to predict when the light will turn on instead of waiting, so sometimes they press the button faster than Watson.
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