Jeopardy-Playing Supercomputer Beats Humans

An anonymous reader writes "Ok, this was just a practice round. But in a short demonstration today IBM's Jeopardy-playing supercomputer, a whiz by the name of Watson, thoroughly bested two talented human contestants. IBM has been working on this artificial intelligence project for years to prove that a computer can be programmed to understand conversational speech and wordplay. In today's demo, Watson seems to have proved the point: it started out on a roll in the category 'Chicks Dig Me,' about women and archaeology. The real man versus machine face-off (in which the same contestants compete for a $1 million prize) will be taped tomorrow, and aired in February."

Comments

"The pod bay doors cannot be opened."

[MrEricSir]

"What is the mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it?"

When do they get the question?

[SeattleGameboy]

In the article, they mention that the computer gets the question as text. Does anyone know exactly when the computer receives the question? Does it receive when the human host starts talking or when the human host completes the question? If it is when the host starts speaking, the computer is getting at least several second head-start on the humans.

Re:When do they get the question?

[MozeeToby]

The humans also get the question as text, at the exact same moment Watson does. That's the way it's always worked on Jeopardy!. They see the question as text the same you do when you watch the show on TV. The best competitors read well a head of Trebek and have an answer ready the instant they're allowed to buzz in, which as after Trebek finishes reading the question. Watson has the exact same advantages and disadvantages as any contestant, except that he can read the text basically instantly.