Well, Watson beat the human champions in the first game of the Jeopardy! face off between man and machine, with a score of $35,734 to $10,400 for Brad Rutter and $4,800
for Ken Jennings. But Watson’s developers were puzzled by his flub in the Final Jeopardy! segment. The category was US Cities, and the answer was:
“Its largest airport
was named for a World War II its second largest, for a World War II
battle.”
The two human contestants wrote
“What is Chicago?” for its O’Hare and Midway, but Watson’s response was
a lame “What is Toronto???”
How could the machine have been so wrong? David Ferrucci, the manager of the Watson project at IBM Research, explained during a
viewing of the show on Monday morning that several things probably confused Watson. First, the category names on Jeopardy! are tricky. The answers often do not exactly fit the category. Watson, in his training phase,
learned that categories only weakly suggest the kind of answer that is expected, and, therefore, the machine downgrades their significance.
The way the language was parsed provided an advantage for the humans and a disadvantage for Watson, as well. “What US city” wasn’t in the question. If it had been, Watson would have given US cities much more weight as it searched for the answer. Adding to the confusion for Watson, there are cities named Toronto in the United States and the Toronto in Canada has an American League baseball team. It probably picked up those facts from the written material it has digested. Also, the machine didn’t find much evidence to connect either city’s airport to World War II. (Chicago was a very close second on Watson’s list of possible answers.)
So this is just one of those situations that’s a snap for a reasonably knowledgeable human but a true brain teaser for the machine.
The mistake actually encouraged Ferrucci. “It’s goodness,” he said. Watson knew it did not know that right answer with any confidence. Its confidence level was about 30%. So it was right about that. Moreover, Watson has learned how the categories work in Jeopardy! It understands some of the subtleties of the game, and it doesn’t make simplistic assumptions. Think about how Watson could be used in medicine, as a diagnostic aid. A patient may describe to a doctor a certain symptom or a high level of pain, which, on the surface, may seem to be an important clue to the cause of the ailment. But Watson may know from looking at a lot of data that that symptom or pain isn’t the key piece of evidence, and could alert the doctor to be aware of other factors.
(By the way, there are many fields where Watson could help out. IBM general counsel Robert Weber describes how Watson might be used in the legal profession in a on The National Law Journal Web site. Anne K. Altman, general manager, Global Public Sector, talks about how Watson could be helpful to government in a on Government Technology magazine’s blog.)
Another encouraging sign: Watson bet intelligently, just $947, so it still won the game by a wide margin. “That’s smart,” Ferrucci said. “You’re in the middle of the contest. Hold onto your money. Why take a risk?”
Watson may not have much of a sense of humor, but Ferrucci sure does. He wore a Toronto Blue Jays jacket to the Jeopardy! viewing.
Here are some explanations of how Watson plays J
Here’s how Watson knows what it knows from Jon Lenchner:
Here’s a post on Watson’s wagering strategies from Gerald Tesauro:
Here’s some info on how Watson sees, hears and speaks from Dave Gondek:
are a couple of essays by Stephen Baker, author of , on matters of machine intelligence.
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Asked on: August 28, 2014 by Beverly H., Weston
Which A/C fan setting costs more, “on” or “auto?” My friend believes the “auto” setting uses more electricity.
That’s actually a common, but important question. The on/auto fan switch on your A/C thermostat will affect the price you pay to cool your home. The A/C fan circulates the cooled or heated air throughout your home. Setting the fan switch to “on” will make the A/C fan run continuously, 24 hours a day. Choosing the “auto” setting will cause the fan to shut off with the rest of the cooling system as soon as your desired temperature on your thermostat is reached.
Fan “on” costs more Advice from friends can be helpful, but in this case your friend was mistaken to think that the auto setting used more electricity. Let’s assume your air conditioner normally cycles off 30 percent of the time. In this example, turning the fan switch to “on” will make the fan run over 200 extra hours a month. For a typical size central air conditioner, that would cost you about $8 more each month. Keep in mind, a fan that runs all the time may also wear out sooner.
Another reason to keep it on “auto” Setting your A/C fan to auto also helps provide better dehumidification. Have you noticed how moisture from the air condenses on the outside of a cold drink on a humid day? Your A/C unit captures moisture the same way, helping your home feel more comfortable. When the fan cycles off using the auto mode, moisture has a chance to drip from the cold cooling coils into the condensation pan and then drain outside. However, when the fan runs all the time in the “on” setting, less moisture has a chance to drip and drain outside. Instead, some gets blown back into the air again.
Some people prefer the feel or sound of the fan running all the time. If that’s you, at least now you know how much that choice will cost you.
Learn how to save even moreDuring Florida’s hottest months, we want to remind you that you can save five percent on your monthly cooling costs for each degree you turn your thermostat up. Also, our
can help you save even more.
You can also take our
to get a personalized savings plan filled with energy-saving tips and recommendations. It’s easy, and can save you up to $250 a year.
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