Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) defeated IBM’s Watson, a computer that can respond to spoken questions, in a Congressional exhibition “Jeopardy!” match in Washington, D.C., on Monday night.
Holt, who became a five-time winner of the game show more than 30 years ago, earned $8,600 to Watson’s $6,200. Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the third contestant in the match, came away with $1,000.
Holt, a nuclear physicist, is the former assistant director of the University’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
Earlier this year, Watson defeated Brad Rutter, who holds the record for winning the most money on “Jeopardy!” and Ken Jennings, who holds the record for the longest championship streak with 74 straight wins.
“I was proud to hold my own with Watson,” Holt said in a statement released on Tuesday. “More importantly, I was proud to join IBM and other members of Congress to highlight the importance of science and math education and research and development. While it was fun to out-do Watson for one night in trivia; it is vital that, as a nation, we out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world for generations to come.”
Holt was the only congressman of the five who played against the machine to defeat it.The second round featured Rep. Jared Polis ’96 (D-Colo.), who ended with $6,800, and Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), who made $7,600. Watson won the round with $22,500. The third round featured Himes again and Rep. Nan Hayworth ’81 (R-N.Y.). Overall, Watson won with $40,300 to the representatives’ combined $30,000.
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