15 ms·

Did this competition hurt Jeopardy in general because it is now obvious that the winner is mostly decided by buzzer skills among top players?

Kaizyn 16y ago
No, I don't think so. It was always known that buzzer speed was always an important factor.
- ghaff 16y ago
  I don't think I realized the degree and I've been an off-and-on regular Jeopardy watcher over the years. I don't see this subtlety as hurting Jeopardy's brand any though. It does make me wish that there had been a better platform for competition of this sort that would have had a more level playing field. (The humans actually had some advantage of anticipating the buzz-in signal so I'm not saying that Watson had all the cards. I'm just saying that a lot of the contest hinged on a factor that inherently could not be made apples-to-apples.)
Pyrodogg 16y ago
I'm sure the same thing comes out of Jeopardy "Tournament of Champions" games where a number of very good human players come together. It's just that only regular Jeopardy watchers every noticed those games were taking place. It just seems more pronounced with Watson because it drew in a large crowd of new (but perhaps one-time) viewers.
nostromo 16y ago
With three of the best Jeopardy players ever, I thought they might make the questions a bit more challenging. I can see why this might not work in this case because Watson was programmed using regular questions. But I agree, I would have liked to see the skill level rise with the caliber of player.
tastybites 16y ago
I doubt it. Jeopardy's a game, not an exam.
Herring 16y ago
Landmark AI event, and you guys are worrying about buzzer speed. *sigh
- RickHull 16y ago
  That's because the buzzer competition confounds the knowledge competition. It's a shame, really. But I'm sure IBM is happy.
  - JunkDNA 16y ago
    Can you explain why it is you think that the knowledge part is confounded? If Watson is fast but incorrect, it's a failure.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
    - RickHull 16y ago
      The knowledge part is confounded because buzzer performance preempts knowledge performance.
      - shadowfox 16y ago
        Can you explain? (I didn't quite get the preempt part). Watson seems to be getting answers correct as well
    - defen 16y ago
      A Watson that knows 70% of the answers will beat a human who knows 90% of the answers, purely due to better reflexes. Of course, buzzer skill is partly how KenJen won so many games, so I'm not complaining. Just not AS impressed by Watson as some people.
      - JunkDNA 16y ago
        Except that it's not just reflexes. Watson has to compute the answer before the humans. That's no small task. This video is a great technical explanation of how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G2H3DZ8rNc&feature=youtube_gdata_player http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G2H3DZ8rNc&feature=youtu...

Kaizyn 16y ago

No, I don't think so. It was always known that buzzer speed was always an important factor.

ghaff 16y ago
I don't think I realized the degree and I've been an off-and-on regular Jeopardy watcher over the years. I don't see this subtlety as hurting Jeopardy's brand any though. It does make me wish that there had been a better platform for competition of this sort that would have had a more level playing field. (The humans actually had some advantage of anticipating the buzz-in signal so I'm not saying that Watson had all the cards. I'm just saying that a lot of the contest hinged on a factor that inherently could not be made apples-to-apples.)

Pyrodogg 16y ago

I'm sure the same thing comes out of Jeopardy "Tournament of Champions" games where a number of very good human players come together. It's just that only regular Jeopardy watchers every noticed those games were taking place. It just seems more pronounced with Watson because it drew in a large crowd of new (but perhaps one-time) viewers.

nostromo 16y ago

With three of the best Jeopardy players ever, I thought they might make the questions a bit more challenging. I can see why this might not work in this case because Watson was programmed using regular questions. But I agree, I would have liked to see the skill level rise with the caliber of player.

tastybites 16y ago

I doubt it. Jeopardy's a game, not an exam.

Herring 16y ago

Landmark AI event, and you guys are worrying about buzzer speed. *sigh

RickHull 16y ago
That's because the buzzer competition confounds the knowledge competition. It's a shame, really. But I'm sure IBM is happy.
- JunkDNA 16y ago
  Can you explain why it is you think that the knowledge part is confounded? If Watson is fast but incorrect, it's a failure.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - RickHull 16y ago
    The knowledge part is confounded because buzzer performance preempts knowledge performance.
    - shadowfox 16y ago
      Can you explain? (I didn't quite get the preempt part). Watson seems to be getting answers correct as well
  - defen 16y ago
    A Watson that knows 70% of the answers will beat a human who knows 90% of the answers, purely due to better reflexes. Of course, buzzer skill is partly how KenJen won so many games, so I'm not complaining. Just not AS impressed by Watson as some people.
    - JunkDNA 16y ago
      Except that it's not just reflexes. Watson has to compute the answer before the humans. That's no small task. This video is a great technical explanation of how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G2H3DZ8rNc&feature=youtube_gdata_player http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G2H3DZ8rNc&feature=youtu...