<p>I’d like to see how Watson would do in a quiz bowl format where there is no hint given by the category and a player can buzz in before the question is completed. I’ve seen humans provide correct answers with only a few words spoken.</p>
<p>Isn’t quiz bowl essentially studying questions that have been asked before in previous contests? If that’s so, then I think Watson would dominate the crap out of everyone, when given access to those old questions that is. Basically, just match the spoken words with keywords from previous questions.</p>
<p>Also, the writing section of the SAT isn’t all grammar mistakes that can be fixed in MS word. Some of it is placing paragraphs into logical orders, or putting in the correct word to replace the underlined word, if I recall correctly. idk, I pretty much failed the SAT because I didn’t study for it. Anyway, even with correct grammar, there are some correct grammar that’s “preferred” to other correct grammar.</p>
<p>If Watson has to process the verbal sound then maybe we have a fairer contest. If you give it a text file like in Jeopardy, then Watson would win easily, I think. In quiz bowl, kids buzz in early sometimes but not all the time, they get penalized for buzzing in early if they give the wrong answer. And they have to answer with exact phrase or term and it is very difficult to do that before the choices of answers have been spoken. If the answer is 36 degrees and they answer 36 only, that can be judged as incorrect answer. Against Watson, they will be forced to gamble and buzz in early because Watson will know and remember all the facts cold. I think that is a losing strategy in the long run against Watson. Unlike Jeopardy where there is pun, and weird word association problem, quiz bowl is just mostly pure facts and figures.</p>
<p>Yes, SAT writing has various section that are quite different. The part that wants you to find an error would be super easy for Watson to do, because it is mostly pure grammar rule. The part that makes you find alternatives of a whole phrase or sentence would be harder but I think not too difficult for a program to figure out which has the best structure.</p>
<p>Ya, I suppose. In theory, the shorter the better, right?</p>
<p>no pun intended.</p>
<p>In quiz bowl, if someone gives an answer that’s too vague to be the correct answer, they will be asked to clarify it.
If a student says “36,” and the question writer wants “36 degrees,” then the proctor will prompt the student to provide a more exact answer (unless there are specific instructions not to accept “36”)</p>
<p>I guess, there are many different quiz bowls around but the ones I am familiar with is the National Science Bowl (NSB) and National Ocean Science Bowl (NOSB). For these 2 events, the toss-up answer can be given by the letter of the multiple choices w,x,y, or z, or the verbal answer. The rule for verbal answer is that the answer must be exactly as written or as the moderator would read it. Several years ago, at national tournament in the final question of the final game of the tournament, it came down to the last question for the win and a team answer something like 36 and the answer was 36 degrees. The moderator said the answer was correct, but the competing team protested and wanted a clarification whether it was the exact wording. After a long deliberation, it was judged that the answer without the word degrees was wrong and the protesting team won national championship.</p>
<p>Some moderators will let the exact wording rule slides, but by the letter of the rule, the answer must be exactly the same. And any form of clarification is not stated in the rule as something a team can have.</p>
<p>But how would Watson do at “Survivor”? :D</p>
<p>since watson is smarter than harvard students, then he would probably not pull the stupid move Cochran did last week. I feel sorry for the guy, and wouldn’t be surprised if he tears up in front of the camera during one of those 1 on 1 cutscenes.</p>
<p>Ken Jennings:</p>
<p>Answer: 3 lbs.
Question: What’s the weight of Ken Jennings’s brain?</p>
<p>Answer: A Big Mac, fries and a medium soft drink.
Question: What is a typical amount of energy consumption needed to fuel Ken Jennings for an afternoon?</p>
<p>Answer: An open book quiz,
Question: What is cheating?</p>
<p>Watson:</p>
<p>Answer: Server farm.
Question: What does IBM need to compete against a 3 lb. human brain?</p>
<p>Answer: Grand Rapids, MI
Question: What is the equivalent energy requirement needed by Watson to compete against a 3 lb. human brain?</p>
<p>Answer: An open book quiz.
Question: What do you call having terabytes of data needed to compete against a 3 lb. human brain?</p>
<p>But Watson (and the computer/phone you’re using to view this) blows humans out of the water in other tasks (such as computational problems). You can’t really compare them this way.</p>
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<p>Right, because that 3 lb brain doesn’t have a terabytes of data on it :rolleyes:. And a computer with an empty hard drive should know everything :rolleyes:</p>
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<p>It <em>should</em> be impressive that such algorithms exist.</p>
<p>The average human reaction time is circa .2 seconds. They should impose that on Watson–unless they already do.</p>
<p>For the .2 seconds number, what is the reference points? Is it the time from when you decide to press the button, it would take .2 second to actually press?</p>
<p>Ooh, what a surprise! I really thought some kids from harvard had the capacity to beat a specialized supercomputer.</p>