Watson

[PICSIX]

Maybe I could beat this game with Watson in my corner?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/After-Jeopardy-win-IBM-apf-368848741.html?x=0

[Hanover1]

They fed Watson all the data, and he elected Jeopardy instead....

[Light]

This quote, from a different article made me pause and think:

It scanned the database with algorithms and calculated its degree of confidence in an answer. If its confidence crossed a certain threshold, a mechanical thumb buzzed in and Watson spoke the answer

Isn't that how we should all be betting?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/17/BUAO1HO65B.DTL

[PICSIX]

This quote, from a different article made me pause and think:

It scanned the database with algorithms and calculated its degree of confidence in an answer. If its confidence crossed a certain threshold, a mechanical thumb buzzed in and Watson spoke the answer

Isn't that how we should all be betting?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/17/BUAO1HO65B.DTL

Exactly what I was thinking!

[therussmeister]

This quote, from a different article made me pause and think:

It scanned the database with algorithms and calculated its degree of confidence in an answer. If its confidence crossed a certain threshold, a mechanical thumb buzzed in and Watson spoke the answer

Isn't that how we should all be betting?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/17/BUAO1HO65B.DTL
Isn't that how we all are betting?

[Overlay]

Isn't that how we all are betting?

It's how we would/should be betting if getting the "right answer" (i.e., "the winner") were all that mattered, without consideration of odds. For that, Watson would have to go one step further, and judge not just its degree of confidence in having the right answer, but whether the probability of having the wrong answer (with the accompanying associated rate of overall expected return) justified the risk of answering at all (similar to the decision of the handicapper to bet or not to bet based on those same variables).