IBM's Watson supercomputer was awesome on Tuesday night, February 15, 2011, in the second round of competition between Watson and the two all-time Jeopardy champions, Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings. The formidable IBM supercomputer showed absolutely no mercy as it destroyed the two humans. Watson made the Jeopardy superstars and millionaire money winners look like they were two guys randomly selected from a McDonald's hamburger kitchen or Wal-Mart's greeting position.
Watson finished the first game of a two-game match with $35,734 in winnings, dramatically ahead of runner-up Brad Rutter, who earned $10,400. Ken Jennings trailed with only $4,800. The third and final Watson episode airs Wednesday night, that is if Rutter and Jennings have the courage to show up. It must be rough on the ego to be celebrated as the two top Jeopardy competitors of all time and then be utterly destroyed by a machine.
Of course, Watson is not just an ordinary computer. IBM has spent many millions of development dollars and applied the talents of many of the world's leading computer scientists and information technology specialists to bring Watson up to a superhuman intelligence level.
The IBM effort included much more than stuffing Watson's database full of facts about history, philosophy, music, art, movies and TV shows, dictionaries, English language skills, and all of the other things that are somehow absorbed by the human brain as it develops.
Machine Learning Advances Artificial Intelligence
The IBM team was able to take the development of artificial intelligence to an entirely new higher level by using a new technique called machine learning. In machine learning the computer is programmed to teach itself how to interpret complicated language inputs to first understand the communication in all of its possible nuances and to formulate a specific answer to inquiries based upon the highest probability of that answer being correct.
With machine learning the computer learns to build upon its present level of knowledge and to manipulate that knowledge to increase the probability of giving correct answers to questions not directly covered in its database by human inputs. That is, the machine teaches itself new things as it receives new inquiries and answers to questions and is constantly adding to its level of knowledge and intelligence.
Human Reaction to Watson's Success Seems to Indicate Limited Understanding
The performance of Watson so far in the Jeopardy competition has created quite a buzz in the blogasphere. Here are a few of the comments posted to the article " Computer spanks humans on Day 2 of 'Jeopardy! '" by Brandon Griggs, CNN, February 16, 2011.
"I think the only thing this challenge proves is that the computer is faster at ringing in than Brad or Ken, not smarter," posted Tate Hinkle on "Jeopardy's" Facebook fan page.
"Great, you have a multimillion dollar supercomputer that is really good at trivia, now what?" said one CNN.com commenter, dtboco3.
Another commenter, josh101, replied, "The idea of an interface with a computer system that is capable of interpreting human language is something that a lot of people think will be quite remarkable and pave the way for more interactive robots in health care, help desks, defense, and maybe even education."
The first two comments, it seems to me, completely miss the mark regarding Watson's accomplishments. The third comment is much closer to the significance of a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. The IBM team is closing in on the ability to create computers that can make make superior recommendations and decisions based upon the latest knowledge on about just about any subject and to manage extremely complex operations.
Do you remember the computer HAL in Author C. Clarke's great science fiction classic "2001: A Space Odyssey", which was made into the movie with the same name? Not only did HAL manage the complex control operations and mathematical calculations necessary to operate the spaceship but it had become a friend to the astronauts aboard. The interaction between the computer and the astronauts was verbal and trusting, indicating that the computer had mastered the complicated nuances of human language and had developed a personality.
The final Watson - human challenge at Jeopardy will occur tonight, February 16, 2011. It will be interesting to see if Watson continues with its domination of the two champions or whether Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings will be able to exhibit the human trait of bearing down when things get rough and make a comeback.
Advanced Artificial Intelligence No Longer Science Fiction
Whatever the final score in the Jeopardy game IBM's Watson has demonstrated that computer artificial intelligence has moved well beyond the science fiction phase and is poised to become an important part of the human experience. Let's hope that we use artificial intelligence well and use it for items like medical research, medical diagnosis of symptoms, and the application of the latest effective treatments, rather than research projects for the development of highly destructive weapon systems for the Pentagon.
How we use artificial intelligence may in the end be the greatest test of human intelligence.
Gerald Greene - Technology may save the world but it is a hard task master. It takes increasing amounts of work to keep up with the latest and greatest.
Join the Conversation