Computer crushes the competition on `Jeopardy!'
NEW YORK
On the 30-question game board, veteran "Jeopardy!" champs Ken
Jennings and Brad Rutter managed only five correct responses
between them during the Double Jeopardy round that aired Tuesday.
They ended the first game of the two-game face-off with paltry
earnings of $4,800 and $10,400 respectively.
Watson, their IBM supercomputer nemesis, emerged from the Final
Jeopardy round with $35,734.
Tuesday's competition began with Jennings (who has the longest
"Jeopardy!" winning streak at 74 games) making the first choice.
But Watson jumped in with the correct response: What is leprosy?
He followed that with bang-on responses Franz Liszt, dengue
fever, violin, Rachmaninoff and albinism, then landed on a Daily
Double in the "Cambridge" category.
"I'll wager $6,435," Watson (named for IBM founder Thomas J.
Watson) said in his pleasant electronic voice.
"I won't ask," said host Alex Trebek, wondering with everybody
else where that figure came from.
But Watson knew what he was doing. Sir Christopher Wren was the
correct response, and Watson's total vaulted to $21,035 as the
humans stood by helplessly.
Watson blew his next response. But so did both his opponents. He
guessed Picasso. Jennings guessed Cubism. Rutter guessed
Impressionism. (Correct question: What is modern art?)
Back to Watson, who soon hit the game's second Daily Double. But
even when he was only 32 percent sure (you could see his precise
level of certainty displayed on the screen), Watson correctly
guessed Baghdad as the city from whose national museum the ancient
Lion of Nimrud ivory relief went missing (along with "a lot of
other stuff") in 2003. Watson added $1,246 to his stash.
He even correctly identified the Church Lady character from
"Saturday Night Live."
One answer stumped everyone: "A Titian portrait of this Spanish
king was stolen at gunpoint from an Argentine museum in 1987."
(Correct response: Philip.) Jennings shook his head. Rutter
wrenched his face. Watson, as usual, seemed unfazed.
Even when he bungled Final Jeopardy, Watson (with his 10
offstage racks of computer servers) remained poised.
The answer: "Its largest airport is named for a World War II
hero; its second largest, for a World War II battle."
Both Jennings and Rutter knew the right response was Chicago.
Watson guessed doubtfully, "What is Toronto?????" It didn't
matter. He had shrewdly wagered only $947.
The trio will return on Wednesday, when their second game is
aired. The overall winner will collect $1 million.
The bouts were taped at the IBM research center in Yorktown
Heights, N.Y., last month.