In jeopardy!: Humans vs. supercomputers

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 '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968)'Colossus: The Forbin Project' (1970)'Electric Dreams' (1984)'Terminator' franchise (1984, 1991, 2003, 2009)'Demon Seed' (1977)'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' (1979)Portal (2007)'Eagle Eye' (2008)'The Matrix' franchise (1999 and 2003)'Star Trek: The Original Series' (1968)'War Games' (1983)

The battle for mankind's future is happening now. Not in the city streets or on the edges of outer space, but in a Hollywood soundstage, where "Jeopardy!" champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter are playing against IBM's advanced question-answering system known as Watson. Will the humans triumph over machine, or will Watson run roughshod over the game-show contestants, host Alex Trebek and eventually the world? History, or at least film and video game history, teaches us that match-ups between humans and computers don't always go so well for humans. What do we need to know before it's too late to stop Watson? A few tips, hard-earned by the humans in the following films and video games.

( Carol Kaelson / Associated Press )

The battle for mankind's future is happening now. Not in the city streets or on the edges of outer space, but in a Hollywood soundstage, where "Jeopardy!" champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter are playing against IBM's advanced question-answering system known as Watson. Will the humans triumph over machine, or will Watson run roughshod over the game-show contestants, host Alex Trebek and eventually the world? History, or at least film and video game history, teaches us that match-ups between humans and computers don't always go so well for humans. What do we need to know before it's too late to stop Watson? A few tips, hard-earned by the humans in the following films and video games.

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