So as I was watching TV I saw that Jeopardy only had two contestants. This caught me off guard since I am use to three people answering questions. Then as I watched I realized that the third contestant was a computer. This computer, named Watson, was answering questions and answering far more questions then the human contestants. Watson seemed unstoppable! This article I read talks about how this computer is putting humans to shame, yet I personally don't find this as a surprise. Obviously A computer is going to be more proficient and correct then a human. What surprised me was how fast this computer had the answers. I guess when a question is picked it is sent to the computer through text. and then the computer searches for the answer in his database. Also Watson has decision making skills when it comes to gambling his money. When Watson had a 32% chance of answering a question correctly he bet a lower amount of money. Overall I find this very interesting. We are now reaching that time where computers can "think". They are capable to be on game shows!! As long as these computers do not get a mind of their own and start killing people I have no problem with it.
-SOUTHPAW
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20032145-71.html?tag=topTechContentWrap;editorPicks
I was thinking of writing about IBM Watson too, but there are so many interesting articles to read! Over summer and winter break I often watched Jeopardy and tried to see how many answers I could get right. I was excited to watch Watson compete but the questions were obviously out of my league. Plus I didn't understand the format with the three guesses appearing on the screen. I'm not surprised that computers can think either because everything has technologically advanced. If you think about that, sometimes it's like computers have a mind of their own when they act up or crash. I was skeptical about Watson and kept thinking someone was controlling it behind the scenes. It's not going into the game show business so what is the future for Watson? &How much more benefits could IBM gain from this Jeopardy publicity? I agree the thought of computers coming to life is scary.
ReplyDeleteI was watching the news and they were talking about it and then I saw this article, so I decided to write about because it was interesting. I have to agree with you about the Watson’s the IBM computer putting humans to shame. I was amazed, on how the computer answered 13 questions right and out score the two contestants. This show that human is smarter because we build the computer and program it to be smarter and faster. Another thing that I agree with you is that Watson has decision making skills when it comes to gambling his money and that gives it personality. I agree, as long as computers do not get a mind of their own but the future computer will be more than meets the eyes.
ReplyDeleteI also saw Watson on Jeopardy. I occasionally watch the show to see if I can answer any of the questions. Whenever I do, I get so excited whenever I answer a question correctly. I am amazed by how much these contestants know. Well, after watching Watson, he blew them all out of the water. Of course he had some glitches along the way but what amazed me is that he knows answers to pop culture questions too.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is interesting that Watson has decision making capabilities. I liked that he was able to raise and lower his bet based on how confident he was about the answer.
I do think if we continue in this direction that computers are going to be able to be even more intelligent than Watson. I think that computers taking over the world is definitely scary. I just hope that we aren't headed in the direction.
I was thinking the same thing as you when I saw this Watson on TV. As long as computers dont get smart enough to kill us and takeover the word, Terminator, I am find with it. Its crazy how we have the technology these days to make a computer that is able to work like this. But like I said in a previous post on my blog, computers will never be smarter then humans because we are the ones that make them and program to work like that. Therefore, we are Watson. But obviously, computers will be faster then humans since they have the answers already programmed in them.
ReplyDelete-Arod