Watson off to fast start on 'Jeopardy!'

In the battle of humans vs. machines, "Jeopardy!" contestant Watson shows his big computer brain is up to the task.

On the first night of competition, Watson, the IBM computer built to play "Jeopardy!", won $5,000, putting it in a tie for first place and $3,000 ahead of the second human it is playing against.

The competition continues tonight and Wednesday night.

Will Watson be crowned a "Jeopardy!" champion? Will humans prevail? And if one of the show's two past champions, Brad Rutter or Ken Jennings, wins, how much longer will humans be able to stave off Watson’s big brain?

Keep tuning in for answer to these questions.

In the interest of full disclosure, I wasn’t able to watch the match because of family responsibilities -- OK, the baby was crying and I had to wash bottles -- but I found a few stories that are worth a read:

Watson vs. the Humans, Night One

'Jeopardy!' debuts computer contestant Watson; WETA airs Watson documentary

Computer ties human as they square off on ‘Jeopardy!’