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Arts & Culture

NOVA: Smartest Machine On Earth

"Jeopardy!" panel at IBM's Watson Research Center: Celeste, Watson and Doug.
Courtesy of IBM
"Jeopardy!" panel at IBM's Watson Research Center: Celeste, Watson and Doug.

Airs Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV

What's so special about human intelligence and will scientists ever build a computer that rivals the flexibility and power of a human brain? In "Smartest Machine On Earth," NOVA takes viewers inside an IBM lab where a crack team has been working for nearly three years to perfect a machine that can answer any question.

The scientists hope their machine will be able to beat expert contestants in one of the USA's most challenging TV quiz shows -- "Jeopardy!," which has entertained viewers for over four decades.

NOVA presents the exclusive inside story of how the IBM team developed the world's smartest computer from scratch. Now they're racing to finish it for a special "Jeopardy!" airdate in February 2011.

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They've built an exact replica of the studio at its research lab near New York and invited past champions to compete against the machine, a big black box code -- named Watson after IBM's founder, Thomas J. Watson. But will Watson be able to beat out its human competition?

NOVA is on Facebook, and you can follow @novapbs on Twitter. IBM Watson is on Facebook, and you can follow @IBMWatson on Twitter.

Preview: NOVA: Smartest Machine On Earth
IBM Watson Why Jeopardy?