Computers in “Jeopardy,” Coming Soon to a TV Near You

Last Updated on February 24, 2024 10:07 am by Jeffrey Powers

No, not that kind of Jeopardy. The Alex Trebek kind of Jeopardy.

Rawstory reports that there will be a showdown between IBM’s “Watson” computer and two past Jeopardy champions coming in February.

From the report:

The competition is reminiscent of when IBM developed a chess-playing computer to compete against chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.

The “Jeopardy!” answer-and-question format is a different kind of challenge. It often requires contestants to deal with subtleties, puns and riddles and come up with answers fast.

When I was much younger, I would watch the original Jeopardy with my parents. When it returned, hosted by Alex Trebek, the first thing I noticed was that the questions seemed to have gotten much easier. It pretty much fell off my radar except when I was visiting my folks.

But I think I shall make a point of watching at least the first one of these.

I’ll be rooting for the computer.