I'm skeptical of that. Is the Watson's computer to solenoid path really slower than the brain to muscle path of a human? Sure, an anticipatory human could buzz in after the light is electronically triggered but before the luminescent fixture (LED, or whatever) fired up, but humans will also undoubtedly jump the gun and buzz in too early, causing them to be locked out. To say that a human, even a seasoned Jeopardy! player, could beat a computer and solenoid any significant portion of the time, is something I have a lot of trouble accepting.
I don't think its all that hard to believe. Remember that Watson also has to depress a physical button (the same buzzer everyone else uses).
The eye to finger path for humans is about 200ms. It probably takes about 100ms for Watson to physically press the button. So Watson is about 100ms faster. But that also gives humans about a 100ms window in which to beat Watson. This means that you need to start your press 100-200ms before Trebek finishes his last word.
That's pretty good sized window for most people given you are reading the question along with Trebek. If the person who turns the light on is very consistent, I think a human who is good at this could consistently beat Watson.
