Artificial intelligence vs. humans: Is AI up to the challenge?

Fri, 05/15/2009 - 15:28 - NLN

Science fiction fans like me have long been fascinated with the idea of a machine that could actually think and behave like a human being, or one that could surpass even the best human being at some human task.

That’s one reason I was particularly interested in a recent news story that told about Watson, a computing system from IBM that is designed to compete against humans on the well known game show “Jeopardy.” According to an article in Computerworld, the show’s producers are expected to announce plans to air a show pitting a Jeopardy champion against the machine.

Watson is designed to understand complex questions and to answer them quickly enough to compete on a rapid-fire show like "Jeopardy," the article said. Remembering a similar competition, a chess match between IBM’s Deep Blue and chess champion Garry Kasparov, in which Kasparov was defeated, one would have to say that our human "Jeopardy" players are in trouble.