Jeopardy!' Pits Man Against Computer in Round 1

NEW YORK (AP) — In the "Jeopardy!" battle of man vs. machine, man and machine are now neck-and-neck.

Human player Brad Rutter and a supercomputer named Watson ended an initial round, aired Monday, tied at $5,000. The other challenger, human Ken Jennings, was far behind with $2,000.

The exhibition matches will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday on the popular trivia TV game show.

Two complete games will be played, with the winner (be it man or machine) collecting $1 million.

Rutter and Jennings are the most successful players in the show's history. Watson, named for IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, is powered by 10 racks of computer servers.

The bouts were taped at the IBM research center in Yorktown Heights, New York, last month.

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Online:

https://jeopardy.com

NY Times:

Watson reeled off one correct answer after another. But then the computer started to slip, and Mr. Rutter — who holds the shows record for the most winnings at $3.25 million—came roaring back.

Watson even made a few mistakes.

“Stylish elegance, or students who all graduated in the same year,” the question read.

“What is chic?” Watson replied.

Wrong.

“What is class?” Mr. Rutter said.

Right.