Elementary, My Dear Watson

(Photo courtesy of Carol Kaelson/Jeopardy Productions Inc., via Associated Press)

Olivia and I, like many of our fellow humanoids on Monday, watched two former “Jeopardy!” champions attempt to regain past glory against an IBM computer named Watson, a rising upstart in the world of television quiz shows. The word from TV land is that the much-hyped battle of man vs. machine netted “Jeopardy!” its highest rating in four years, as well as the second spot in household ratings for television shows on that day, finishing behind only CBS’s “Two and a Half Men.” (Alas, not even a supercomputer can explain how that contemptible show continues to garner top honors in the contest for most eyeballs.)

Watson’s question of “What is Toronto?” for the first day's Final Jeopardy clue about U.S. cities elicited some chuckles from those gathered in our living room, but our laughter was born of nervousness, a signal of unease for what had just unfolded and would continue on the show’s three-day run—a non-human utterly dominating humans in a seemingly human game. Ken Jennings, one of those humbled former champions and apparent “Simpsons” fan, said wrote it best: “I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords.”