"The big step here is in the machine being able to 'understand' the questions and the context," Olds said. "In simple terms, the hard part is to get the machine to be able to effectively judge the intent behind the questions -- to decipher the word tricks that humans intuitively understand."

And Watson did well with deciphering the questions on the game show.

However, it did struggle with a few categories, like "Actors who Direct." Jennings and Rutter had several strong runs, once taking seven questions in a row between them.

In the end, Watson won the $1 million grand prize, which is slated to go to charity. Jennings will receive $300,000 and Rutter will get $200,000. Both men said they will donate half of their winnings to charities.

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at or subscribe to . Her e-mail address is .