Northview HS alumni and 2007 valedictorian Vibin Kundukulam was again on JEOPARDY in March 2010. But this time Vibin was at IBM's Watson Research Center in New York at the invitation of IBM to test their latest computer named "WATSON". IBM plans to present WATSON on the JEOPARDY show to compete against humans. WATSON is an highly advanced computing system developed by IBM that has vast knowledge, can understand complex questions and deliver answers with great precision and speed. Of course on JEOPARDY WATSON will try to understand the answer and then come up with the right question. Watson is not a search engine and is not connected to the internet. In 1997 IBM had developed another advanced computer "Deep Blue" which beat world champion Garry Kasparov in a game of chess.



Vibin had appeared on JEOPARDY in October 2008. IBM scientists invited Vibin to test his skills against WATSON in a few trial games they staged at the research center. The trial games were conducted with a regular host and real clues from JEOPARDY shows which had not yet aired on television. The scientists used the lessons they learned from the games and the feedback from participants to fine tune WATSON. To the participants it was exciting to be part of a program that is designed to rival the human mind and break new grounds in technology.

No date has been set for a public JEOPARDY challenge when WATSON will be presented in front of a live audience.

Vibin is a junior at MIT. His parents live in Johns Creek, GA.

For more information: akunduk@us.ibm.com