Jeopardy! Champs Getting Spanked by the Supercomputer So Far

Watson is killing Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, who are starting to look only mildly amused

By Natalie Finn Feb 16, 2011 12:30 AMTags

It's not easy being human.

Things aren't looking too promising for Ken Jennings, who won 74 consecutive Jeopardy! matches, and Brad Rutter, the game's biggest all-time money winner, after two days of battling IBM supercomputer Watson, which simply is just quicker on the draw than itsflesh-and-blood opponents.

After tonight's Double and Final Jeopardy rounds (they're only doing two per night to allow for behind-the-scenes clips about Watson's "birth"), Watson was the winner with $35,734, Brad had $10,400 and Ken was in third with a mere $4,800.

And Watson didn't even get the final question right!

But it's not like the computer is going to be tricked into risking more money than is necessary to win. Maybe one of these former champs can wage a comeback on tomorrow's show, the final day of play, but it's looking more and more like the microchips are going to reign supreme.