We're watching history being made. Oddly enough, it's on the quiz show Jeopardy!. Normally, I don't go out of my way to pay attention to this show. The contestants all seem way smarter and more motivated than I am.
Today, though, is different. For the first time, one of Alex Trebek's contestants isn't human. WATSON is a supercomputer built by IBM to test machine learning capabilities by playing Jeopardy!. Machine learning is a form of recursive programming where the computer makes its own value decisions and learns from its mistakes. The more WATSON plays, the better it will learn to play the game.
The WATSON episodes began airing yesterday, continue today, and finish tomorrow. There was also an hour-long prologue on NOVA, which explained the development of the WATSON computer, a process that's taken over three years to get to this point.
I've got to admit, watching WATSON perform gave me the chills. While we may not exactly be watching the birth of a true Artificial Intelligence (AI), how far away in our future can one be? And who will be in charge of it? IBM? The CIA? The Vatican? The Tyrell Corporation? Justin Bieber?
Me, I'm cheering for the human contestants. Yes, I like computer games, but no, I am not ready to become a pawn in one, not just yet.
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