AI wins as Google algorithm beats Chinese master in ancient game of Go
Technology
AI wins as Google algorithm beats Chinese master in ancient game of Go
Google’s computer algorithm AlphaGo narrowly beat the world’s top-ranked player in the ancient Chinese board game of Go on Tuesday, earning praise for apparently surpassing human abilities in one of the last games that machines have yet to dominate and reaffirming the arrival of what its developers tout as a groundbreaking new form of artificial intelligence. AlphaGo took the first of three scheduled games against brash Chinese 19-year-old Ke Jie, the world’s No. 1 player, who after the match anointed the program as the new “Go god.”
For the first time, AlphaGo was quite humanlike. In the past it had some weaknesses. But now I feel its understanding of Go and the judgment of the game is beyond our ability.
Ke Jie, China’s Go prodigy
AlphaGo stunned the Go community and futurists a year ago when it trounced South Korean grandmaster Lee Se-Dol four games to one. That marked the first time a computer program had beaten a top player in a full contest and was hailed as a landmark for artificial intelligence. This week’s matchup in the eastern Chinese city of Wuzhen between Ke and an updated version of AlphaGo has been highly anticipated, amid speculation about whether AI could beat the world’s top player. AlphaGo’s feats have fueled visions of a brave new world of AI that can not only drive cars and operate “smart homes” but potentially help humanity figure out some of the most complex scientific, technical and medical problems.
This isn’t about man competing with machines but rather using them as tools to explore and discover new knowledge together. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether AlphaGo wins or loses … either way, humanity wins.
Demis Hassabis, founder of DeepMind, the Google-owned company in London that developed AlphaGo
