Do You Know That Song?

It was a daunting task. Colby and Schenae were not exactly sure why they agreed to try it. Both had been professional transcriptionists for many years. They loved their jobs. When the boss asked them to participate in a research project, they hardly felt it was appropriate to refuse. So, they reluctantly agreed.

They were going to go up against the IBM Watson supercomputer, which is called “The smartest machine on Earth.” In 1997, another IBM computer called “Big Blue” beat world champion chess player Garry Kasparov in a six game tournament match. That was the first time a machine beat a human in a complex task.

While both Schenae and Colby are very intelligent, Kasparov is a genius. If he could be beaten, what chance did the two women have? If it turned out badly, they feared that they might lose their jobs.

Colby and Schenae were selected for their love of music. Colby never listens to the radio and only likes classical music. One of her favorite pieces is “Moonlight Sonata,” by Debussy. She could listen to that song for hours. Many are familiar with the shorter version of the piece, which lasts only a few minutes. However, there is a much longer version of the same piece that takes over an hour for an orchestra to play it properly. That is her favorite.

Schenae’s musical tastes are quite different. She also hates the radio, because all the songs are programmed by, you guessed it, a computer. In her opinion, they play the same songs too frequently, which is boring. Her musical tastes are songs with more street creed. She likes the newest hip hop and edgy rap songs that rarely get much radio play. She is a good rapper herself and recites many of the most complex rap lyrics from memory. This is why she is a good transcriptionist. She hears the most complex word combinations and instantly makes sense out of it. This is her natural talent.

Both the women were shocked to learn they each had to transcribe the lyrics by listening to a cappella versions, with no background music, of two songs from the country and pop music categories. Ugh! Neither woman listened to any of that music.

Now it is time to guess the songs from a single line of lyrics:

1. IBM Watson says the lyrics are, “The startled me truck bed though barlow.”
2. Colby says, “Least I don’t need to beg or borrow.”
3. IBM Watson says the lyrics are, “Blue gene bear bear yeah.”
4. Schenae says, “Blue-jeaned baby.”
5. IBM Watson says the lyrics are, “You press at bottom to your live in peace.”
6. Colby says, “You press the bottle to your lips.”
7. IBM Watson says the lyrics are, “You got me a loon.”
8. Schenae says, “You got me alone.”

Answers:

1. Runnin’ With the Devil – Van Halen
2. Tiny Dancer – Elton John
3. Ticks – Brad Paisley
4. I Knew You Were Trouble – Taylor Swift

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