Jared Polis loses to supercomputer Watson (and a New Jersey Dem) in Jeopardy showdown

Colorado Representative Jared Polis is a politician unafraid to do the unconventional -- like, for instance, beer bonging with Stephen Colbert. So it's no surprise he eagerly signed up to compete against IBM supercomputer and Ken Jennings-vanquisher Watson in a special Congressional Jeopardy exhibition. No, it wasn't televised, doubtless to...

By Michael Roberts

March 2, 2011

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Colorado Representative Jared Polis is a politician unafraid to do the unconventional -- like, for instance, beer bonging with Stephen Colbert. So it's no surprise he eagerly signed up to compete against IBM supercomputer and Ken Jennings-vanquisher Watson in a special Congressional Jeopardy exhibition. No, it wasn't televised, doubtless to prevent the competing reps from being embarrassed. Which at least one of them was not.

Of course, that official -- Rush Holt of New Jersey -- was something of a ringer, being a past Jeopardy champ. And he reportedly hasn't lost his chops, beating Watson in a match that also included Polis and fellow representatives Jim Himes from Connecticut and New York's Nan Hayworth.

How'd Polis do? He lost by a mere 15,700 points -- but he felt pretty good about it, telling the Wall Street Journal, ""I avoided humiliation and came behind a supercomputer and a nuclear physicist."

Here's how Polis announced the results to his Twitter followers:

I played @IBMWatson but it beat me RT @ibmwatson: DC match @jahimes now w/ $7,600; @jaredpolis w/ $6,800; #ibmwatson w/ $22,500less than a minute ago via webJared Polis
jaredpolis

jaredpolis

@rushholt actually defeated @IBMWatson Rush Holt of NJ is a former Jeapardy champion. Congrats Rush!less than a minute ago via webJared Polis
jaredpolis

As for Holt, he won bragging rights for humanity, staving off our total enslavement by machines for at least one more day. Here's a video of him talking about the contest.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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