Watson Flubs Travel-Related Final Question On Jeopardy

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Day 2 of the Jeopardy IBM Challenge and what were the two human-like contestants and the robot asked about? A travel question, and one that had my mind racing without an answer (I’m going to stick to blogging and avoid games shows for the time being).

The question, er, answer was: “Its largest airport was named for a World War II hero; its second for a World War II battle.” Watson inexplicably answered Toronto, while competitors Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter both answered correctly with . . . [scroll down below this artfully-crafted Photoshop picture by Jon for the answer]

“Chicago.”

And if you were wondering, turns out all this man v. robot game show hullabaloo has been a ratings bonanza for Trebek & Co. Monday night, the night of Watson’s premier, Jeopardy far outstripped its regular nursing home and hospital waiting room audience and clocked in as the second-most watched show of the night (9% of all TV watchers), beaten only by another show that just as well could star a trio of robots, Two and a Half Men.