Watson may know many Jeopardy! questions, but doesn't know Toronto is outside United States

"What is Toronto?"

“Its largest airport is named for a World War II hero; its second largest, for a World War II battle.”

Watson may have kicked the tails of its two human competitors on Jeopardy!. The Final Jeopardy question on Day 1: the computer gave an answer that didn't compute.

The answer is actually Chicago (O'Hare and Midway, respectively). Toronto's largest airport is named after former Prime Minister (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Lester Pearson, and the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is named after a Canadian World War I flying ace.

We tease that Americans' knowledge of Canada isn't high, and Watson is an American computer.

Humans who play Jeopardy! would have been smart enough not to put "Toronto" as an answer in a category that says "U.S. cities" — assuming that they knew Toronto was not in the United States. Often, players will put no answer in Final Jeopardy rather than put a not-so-bright answer. Computers don't have kind of emotional attachment to embarrassment.

So the best solution for Watson is to study harder, even with his dominance in Jeopardy.

Of course, Jeopardy! fans (and Trebekkies) know that host Alex Trebek is from Sudbury, a bilingual Ontario city above Lake Huron.

photo credit: Jeopardy!