A friend of mine Facebooked a link to a fascinating article today, about a team of computer geniuses at I.B.M. who have been trying to program a computer that can play Jeopardy. I recommend reading the whole article, because it touches on a lot of interesting points that weren't immediately obvious to me.
For example, this has more practical real-world applications than Deep Blue, the famous chess-playing computer, because the ability to parse questions (well, "answers," in the case of Jeopardy) and return a relevant response is a good deal more sophisticated than an internet search engine, and could be useful in other fields.
Also, for a variety of reasons that the article explains, it's not a given that the computer will kick your ass at trivia just because it commands a greater pool of knowledge than an individual has.
Anyway, it seems the producers of Jeopardy have agreed to allow the machine, Watson, to compete on the actual show this fall, against specially selected past Jeopardy champions. (I'm just guessing here, but: "Who is Ken Jennings?") I know I'll be there to watch.
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