Guest Thinkers — February 16, 2011

Computers Can Win Jeopardy! But Can They Solve ‘The Paris Hilton Problem’?

Just how well computers are able to understand language nuance–what researchers call the “Paris Hilton” problem–will determine how far A.I. has come.

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The New York Times offered up a primer on the four-decade battle royal between the artificial intelligence and intelligence augmentation schools. The occasion, of course, was the impending face-off between IBM’s Watson Computing System and the human Jeopardy champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutte. The dust from that melee has now settled, with Watson emerging the undisputed Jeopardy king. And yet, the robots cannot claim total victory just yet. Just how well computers are able to understand language nuance–what researchers call the “Paris Hilton” problem–will determine how far A.I. has come. Does “Paris Hilton” refer to a hotel in France or a U.S. socialite? The answer to that question will either delight or horrify the AI and IA schools alike.

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