( CNN ) -- The computers have n't proven to be our trivia overlords just yet . Give them at least until Wednesday . An IBM supercomputer named Watson finished one round of the TV show `` Jeopardy ! '' on Monday night tied with one of his human competitors and $ 3,000 ahead of the other . The man vs. computer face-off wo n't be complete , however , until the final rounds of the extended trivia game show are aired on Tuesday and Wednesday . IBM trumpets Watson , which has been in development for years and has the processing power of 2,800 `` powerful computers , '' as a major advancement in machines ' efforts to understand human language . The computer receives clues through digital texts and then buzzes in against the two other `` Jeopardy ! '' contestants like any other player would . It juggles dozens of lines of reasoning at once and tries to arrive at a smart answer . After getting off to a scary-good start , Watson did have a few stumbles . In one instance , it repeated an answer that another contestant , Ken Jennings , who won 74 `` Jeopardy ! '' episodes in a row , had already tried . `` What is 1920s ? '' Watson said , sounding like a digitized Matthew Broderick . `` No , '' game-show host Alex Trebek replied . `` Ken said that . '' On many other clues , however , Watson was spot-on . After losing the first clue to Brad Rutter , another `` Jeopardy ! '' champion , Watson jumped in on the second question . Clue : `` Iron fitting on the hoof of a horse or a card-dealing box in a casino . '' Watson : `` What is shoe ? '' Correct . At the start of the show , Trebek went to some lengths to explain the origins of Watson -- IBM approached the show about the idea three years ago -- and how the computer actually works . That 's partly because what you see on the `` Jeopardy ! '' stage is somewhat misleading . It looks as if two humans are bookending a simple computer monitor , which appears to be just about as smart as they are . In reality , as Trebek explained , the bulk of Watson 's computer power was stored in another building at an IBM lab in New York , where the show is being held for this special three-day competition . CNNMoney : Will IBM 's Watson put your job in jeopardy ? After introducing Watson , to studio applause , this is how Trebek explained it : . `` Just as I expected , '' he said . `` That was a very warm reception and I 'm sure Watson would have appreciated the applause . Except for one thing : Watson can neither hear nor see . It will be receiving all of its information electronically . `` And as a matter of fact what you 're looking at right now is not the real Watson . This is an avatar . This is a representation of Watson . Watson , or course , is a sophisticated computer system too big and too heavy to fit behind that lectern on our stage . '' As for the stage version of Watson , his brain-face was represented by a digital Earth that swirled with ribbons of various colors while he thought about questions . As Trebek read the clues , a bar graph appeared at the bottom of the screen , showing the top three answers Watson was considering at that moment and how confident he was in those choices . Sometimes the computer managed to be confident but still incorrect . Here 's the clue to the first question Watson got wrong : . `` From the Latin for end , this is where trains can also originate . '' Watson : `` What is finis . '' Confidence level : 97 % . Trebek : `` No . Ken ? '' `` What is terminus , '' Jennings answered correctly . Before ending the evening tied with Rutter at $ 5,000 each , Watson had jumped out to an early lead at the first commercial break . At that point , Watson had $ 5,200 and his closest noncomputer counterpart had only $ 1,000 . Several Twitter users were awed by the computer 's smarts . `` Watson kinda feakin ' me out . Big time , '' Michael Gartenberg , a tech analyst , wrote on his Twitter feed . Another person wrote : `` Watson is almost scary . This is willld ! These humans are no match for Watson 's algorithms . '' Trebek summed up the computer 's mixed performance this way : . `` So , what have we learned so far : Watson 's very bright , very fast , but he had some weird little moments once in a while . '' Then he teased the upcoming shows : . `` And how many of those will we encounter tomorrow when we play double and final 'Jeopardy ! ' ? ''
IBM computer Watson finishes first round tied with 1 contestant , ahead of 2nd . Comment: The human-computer battle continues on `` Jeopardy ! '' through Wednesday .