The Hill News

When five members of Congress from both parties competed as a group against IBM’s Jeopardy!-playing computer, Watson, on Monday, it was a rare opportunity to engage in some non-partisan fun. But this exhibition match and the official Jeopardy! episodes that pitted Watson against former champions are about much more than a trivia game. 

They demonstrated breakthroughs in technology that make it possible for a machine to compete successfully in a contest that has long been considered a measure of human smarts. Watson’s accomplishments remind us how important innovation is to the economic vit! ality and global competitiveness of the United States.

Innovation has a tremendous amount of relevance to the debates going on in Congress today. The need to reduce the federal budget deficit is urgent. Fiscal discipline is necessary for the financial health of a country.

Read more...