Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Head/Dead/Red (Motorhead/Live Vs. Dead/Andy & Red...Get It?)

1. The Lemmy documentary is pretty good. I had no idea the guy is basically just another Hollywood local, who happens to be a living legend. Dude just sits there playing slot machines and trivia machines all day. Then goes up on stage with Metallica, then right back to the games. All while somehow drinking and smoking for like 60 years without dying. It's been playing on VH1 Classic and Palladia.

2. We watched the first night of Jeopardy!'s week with the computer playing against humans. I'm so confused as to how this thing comes up with answers, even though they gave detailed explanations. "Watson" started off on fire, jumping out to a lead. But then it started choking! One answer was something like "a gymnast won a gold on the parallel bars with this disability" and the thing says "what is 'leg'?" Come on, Watson, get your microchip in the game! Then it answered the same incorrect answer that was just said by one of the humans--twice. This thing is as big as an entire room and they couldn't program it to not say what was just said? That *elementary* rule would be the first thing I programmed. It's kind of like when my friend, a Sox fan, went through a dating service and was matched up with a Yankee fan. If they can't get Yankees-Red Sox right, who knows what else they've fucked up on.

3. The Shawshank Redemption is on every night this week on AMC! Kim: "Jere, we have it on DVD." Jere: "But it's on every night this week." AMC seems to have their finger on the pulse of me lately, much like IFC does. They're celebrating Taxi Driver's 35th anniversary, and have been doing week-long movie fests of things like the Rockys and The Godfathers.

Comments:
Shawshank is one of the toughest but ultimately tremendous movie experiences I've ever been a part of. Everyone (Morgan F.) is just SO good. The material is tough to take but in the end, well, I need not say any more for those few who haven't seen it. Uplifting real.
 
Give Watson a break. You need to watch the PBS show (NOVA I think) on the making of Watson, then you may understand how hard it is to program a "thinking" machine. Watson,s "leg" answer should've been "one leg" and I bet you 99.9% of humans couldn't have come that close.
Why does he repeat wrong answers? He doesn't have any ears! I guess voice recognition could be programmed, but it was probably not the number one target of all the data that had to be input. Thinking is easy for us, but very complex when you break down the process.
 
They did say Watson can't hear or see. Okay, then how come he picks a category when called on by Alex, can read the categories/clues, knows when to buzz in, knows when it's time to choose an amount for the daily double, etc? Don't these require some kind of cue that's the computer equivalent of "hearing" and "seeing"?

I will say he kicked ass on day two. But I also wonder about buzzing in--I feel like if it knows an answer it can always get in before the other two because it's programmed to buzz in right at the moment you're allowed to buzz in.

I still say the WOPR from War Games with '83 technology--or hell, even that kid's home computer--is just as smart as Watson.
 
The only human input is actually cuing Watson for when to speak (so he doesn't talk over Alex or the other people). He receives the categories and clues as text messages. http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-watson-sees-hears-and-speaks-to.html They have tried to make the buzzer system fair, but it seems clear that he has a significant advantage there, and that seems like the biggest problem. Improving on human nervous system responses isn't the same as beating people in what's supposed to be a competition of intelligence.
 
Thanks.

One thing Watty and I see eye to Terminator 2-esque eye on is risking unrounded amounts on Daily Doubles/Final Jeps. I would be doing crazy amounts like $1,467 every time.
 

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