Tuesday, March 1, 2011

But Watson Had Only One Weakness

...Rep. Rush Holt (D-Human Resistance).

There are a lot of smart people on Capitol Hill. But none of them can claim quite the same brainy bragging rights as Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.).

On Monday, Holt beat IBM's super-computer, known as Watson, at a round of "Jeopardy!" at the Liaison Capitol Hill, part of an event organized by IBM. 

For those unfamiliar with Watson, the interactive computer contains some of the the most cutting edge information processors in the world, and it recently beat all-time "Jeopardy!" champion Ken Jennings on TV.

To be fair, Holt is not your average congressman, especially not when it comes to trivia. He's a five-time "Jeopardy!" champion and a nuclear physicist, to boot. Nevertheless, Holt said the prospect of facing a computerized opponent was daunting.

"I watched a few episodes [of Watson] against Jennings a few weeks ago, and I thought I was in for trouble." Not so. At the end of his round, Holt (right) had 8,600 points to Watson's 6,200. Holt's fellow Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) (left) also competed in the round and scored 1,000 points.

Cassidy and Holt were among the five members of Congress taking part in Monday's bipartisan "Watson vs. Members" tournament. They were joined by Reps. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.)

More Rush Holt saving us from Skynet, please.  Thanks.

I was aware Holt is a nuclear physicist, but was not aware he had ever been on Jeopardy!, much less being a five-time champ.  I respected the guy before, but damn.

Stand back.  He's going to try science.

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