IBM UNVEILED ITS NEWEST SUPERCOMPUTER AT A TRIAL JEOPARDY MATCH THIS WEEK. THE ROBOT'S NAME IS WATSON AND "HE" IS A BLACK RECTANGLE WITH THE IMAGE OF A GLOBE WHERE HIS HEAD WOULD BE.
WATSON THE ROBOT BATTLED JEOPARDY CHAMPS KEN JENNINGS AND BRAD RUTTER.
JEOPARDY HOST ALEX TREBEK OVERSAW THE COMPETITION, WITH CATEGORIES LIKE "CHICKS DIG ME" AND "CHILDREN'S BOOKS." WATSON, NAMED AFTER IBM'S FOUNDER, DIDN'T ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS WRONG AND TOOK AWAY MORE THAN 4-THOUSAND DOLLARS.
IBM HAS BEEN WORKING ON WATSON FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THE ROBOT IS MEANT TO "UNDERSTAND" LANGUAGE THE WAY HUMANS DO. THAT MEANS PICKING UP ON IRONY AND SUBTLETIES, SOMETHING THAT ROBOTS HAVE HAD TROUBLE DOING UP UNTIL NOW.
RESEARCHERS LOADED 200 MILLION PAGES OF TEXT INTO WATSON. THIS ALLOWS THE ROBOT TO ANALYZE THE CONTEXT OF WORDS AND SEE HOW THEY RELATE TO EACH OTHER. THE COMPANY SEES HUGE POTENTIAL FOR THE SUPERCOMPUTER THAT GO WAY BEYOND GAME SHOWS.
WATSON COULD HELP DOCTORS DIAGNOSE PATIENTS, WORK AT TOURIST CENTERS OR HANDLE CUSTOMER RELATIONS.
THE REAL JEOPARDY COMPETITION WILL BE ON TV ON FEBRUARY 14TH, 15TH AND 16TH. IBM WILL DONATE ALL OF ITS WINNINGS TO CHARITY.
TXT 24
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