[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP4Jc5rGT1A&w=620&h=344]
Be sure to check your local listings today to see when Jeopardy airs. Why would you want to do that? Oh, you know why: tonight is the first night of the IBM Challenge, starring Watson the artificial intelligence. Oh, and two human opponents. Humans are old news.
You’ll recall that IBM ran a brief exhibition match last month against the two previous Jeopardy champions, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, and you’ll also recall that Watson won. Software out-thought the human brain right before my very eyes. It was a genuine “this is awesome” moment.
Prediction: if Watson wins the three-day tournament (the tournament airs tonight, Tuesday, and Wednesday) it will be on the cover of Time or Newsweek magazine with a headline along the lines of: “Machine 1, Man 0: Why IBM’s Watson Matters.”
