Ed Toutant Report on Watson Jeopardy! Visit – September 17, 2010
RULES, FORMAT, UNKNOWNS
I got the impression that the final rules and format of the Jeopardy! Challenge have not been determined, or maybe that information is known but no one was authorized to share it with me. I’ll assume the former. The problem is a lot more difficult if you don’t know what you’re preparing for. Will the public get to see a one-day televised match between Watson and two humans, or will Watson be in a multi-day tournament, like the standard Tournament of Champions, or even the huge Ultimate Tournament of Champions? If there is a tournament, who are the other players and pairings, and does Watson have to win his way into the finals, or will he be given a bye? Will all 60 clues on the board be revealed, or will some clues be left unused, depending on the time available? If the latter, is there a fixed precise amount of playing time for each round, which Watson can keep track of, or does it depend on the whim or gut feel of the show’s director? What is the intended difficulty level of the questions? Will they be written at the same level as the regular episodes, or will they be more difficult than usual? Will good players know 60% of the answers or 90% of the answers? All of these factors and many others could have a significant impact on how the game is played and which strategies will be most effective. At this point, Watson does not appear to have a specific goal, other than to play Jeopardy! well. Watson seemed content to settle for a tie in some cases when it would have been no more risky to go for a win. This will certainly annoy the Jeopardy! purists, and if that strategy is used in a tournament, it could result in Watson’s elimination from the next round. There are also some tournament situations where the goal is not just to win, but to attain the highest possible score. Depending on how the Jeopardy! Challenge is structured, the specific goal will affect the strategy.
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