Man vs. Computer On Jeopardy!

Starting today Jeopardy! will put man against machine.  Today, tomorrow and Wednesday, two of the game show's most successful contestants, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, will test their knowledge against the IBM computing system “Watson,” named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson.

The winner of the competition will receive one million dollars, the runner-up will earn 300 thousand, and the third-place finisher will be awarded 200 thousand.  Jennings and Rutter will donate half of their winnings to charity. “Watson” won't get any money -- IBM is donating all of the computer's winnings to charity.

Jennings gained national attention by winning 74 consecutive Jeopardy! games and more than 2.5 million dollars in 2004 and 2005. Jennings says the computer won during a recent test-run, but was not infallible.

Rutter holds the record for the most money ever won on Jeopardy!, having earned nearly 3.26 million over the course of numerous appearances on the show in 2002 and 2005.

Do you think the computer can take these guys?