Man and machine tied in 'Jeopardy' game-show match
In the "Jeopardy" battle of man vs. machine, man and machine were neck-and-neck on Monday. Human
player Brad Rutter and the supercomputer named Watson ended an
initial round tied at $5,000. The other challenger, human Ken Jennings, was in third with $2,000. Rutter (the show's all-time money-winner with $3.25 million) and Jennings (who has the longest winning streak at 74 games) are the most successful players in "Jeopardy" history. Watson, named for IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, is powered by 10 racks of
computer servers running the Linux
operating system. "You are about to witness what may prove to be an historic competition," host Alex Trebek told viewers at the top of the show. No question, Watson proved to be an amazing competitor — maybe even a little creepy in the speed and accuracy he displayed.
With categories including Beatles People, Olympic Oddities and Name the Decade, the round got started with Rutter choosing the first question,
Alternate Meanings for $200: "4-letter word for a vantage point or a belief."
