So a few years back, IBM tried to design a computer that could compete on the same level as a human chess master.  Their first attempt, Deep Thought, lost to champ Gary Kasparov in 1996; Deep Blue, an upgraded model, defeated him one year later under controversy as Kasparov claimed humans intervened to help the machine earn its victory.

IBM is trying again – this time, it is constructing a machine to compete against a human on a slightly different playing field:  the game show Jeopardy!.  Most of you know I competed on the show about three years ago, and recently I was contacted by IBM to assist with the development of their computer contestant by “sparring” with a prototype next month at their facility in upstate New York.

As a tech professional and former Jeopardy champion, this is huge for me.  This is right on par with competing in the World Series of Poker last year – me, the geek, gets to visit the mothership and not just play a game against a computer, but ostensibly help Big Blue make their machine better.  Far too cool.

I’ll keep everyone posted on progress as the date approaches.  In the meantime, check out more info on the project here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/technology/27jeopardy.html