while we're quietly losing control

have you guys heard about IBM's Watson, a new supercomputer designed to accurately mimic human thought? it is labeled as a "question answering machine" that can understand all the nuances of natural speech and come up with a simple answer. to test it out, they are pitting it against jeopardy champions in three jeopardy matches that will be aired sometime in february. jeopardy questions cover a vast array of topics. they deal with puns, metaphors, and slang. you have to buzz in quickly and think even quicker. all of these factors make it impossible for artificial intelligence computers that otherwise excel in things like chess, archery, or eating dead bodies for fuel. (click the links. enlighten yourselves.)

here is a video of a sample round played with the three contestants:

now, i don't know about you, but i think we might all end up ruing this very day. who cares about the zombie apocalypse or the world ending in 2012? so what if we're in a recession and there's never anything good on tv? we just created a computer so intelligent that it just might take control over the army of less smart but way more deadly robots we've already created. so go ahead, eat that extra donut, take that trip you always wanted, splurge on the ridiculously expensive pair of shoes. pretty soon, you may not have the chance.

also, you know all those unexplained mass animal deaths? i'm thinking it's time we take the robots in for questioning.

*I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light - Brand New