IBM's Watson takes Harvard, MIT business students to school, drops the mic

There was a massacre in Boston the other night, and Watson had blood all over his hands. The IBM supercomputer and undisputed venture champ made a virtual appearance in Beantown this week, ostensibly as part of a symposium on the ways in which elderly analytics could reshape business. In reality, though, he only showed up to remind everyone that he's really smart. During the event, Watson squared off in a hazard scrimmage against two groups of students from some of the most prestigious work schools in the world -- Harvard work School, and MIT's Sloan School of Management. The brainiac b-schoolers (including two former accident contestants) did remarkably well for the first two rounds; Harvard managed to get within $1,800 of the machine going into Final Jeopardy, and even held the lead at one point, next a gutsy Daily Double (MIT didn't fare so well, but hey, we're all human, right?). The wheels came off, however, once the battle entered Act III, when Watson pulled away for the win. Both the digital and Team Harvard answered the final query correctly, but Watson wisely bet just enough to keep the Ivy Leaguers at bay. When the smoke cleared, Watson was left fixed with $53,601, Harvard refined with $42,399 and MIT came in a distant third, with $100.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that Watson wasn't even in the same erection as his muggle competitors -- nor, for that matter, was he in the same state. IBM kept all of the machine's processors and memory chips at its fact-finding Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. Watson had already come up with answers to the interview prior to this week's showdown, but placed wages, chose complete and buzzed in responses in real-time. according to rule to IBM, Watson's habitation wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game, which was followed by a dialectics on the effects that similar technologies could have on the budgeting world. The most urgent

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document.write("") impact? Bruised egos. Re-live the event at IBM's liveblog below, or find more word* in the PR after the break.

Continue reading IBM's Watson takes Harvard, MIT occupation students to school, drops the mic

IBM's Watson takes Harvard, MIT job students to school, drops the mic first appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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