Return of the Link Dump

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  1. Except that, given current state of the art, the Jeopardy! match will have to have significant modifications from the current game.

    This is because a key element of the game is the buzzer. As Alex finishes reading the clue. someone backstage hits a switch to unlock the players’ buzzers (this also causes lights on the side of the board to go on; opinion’s divided on whether its best to try to anticipate the unlock rhythm or to go with the lights). If you buzz in early, your buzzer’s locked out for a second or so.

    And it’s very unclear, particularly since Watson will not be doing voice recognition but getting the clue via “electronic text”, how and when it can buzz in. If it has to wait like existing players, how will it know when it can buzz? And will its buzz response have to be slowed to human nerve impulse speeds rather than being instantaneous?

    If they toss out the current rule and just let players buzz in whenever they want, the type of human players they’ll get for this match will know to just hit the buzzer immediately for the first three levels of the board. If you’re really good, you know the odds are much in your favor that you will know the answer to the easier levels even if you don’t know the clue yet, and will have time to figure out your answer while Alex is reading the clue.

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