Proving that it’s no fluke, Google’s artificial intelligence program AlphaGo won its second game of Go yesterday by beating the #2 human Go champion in the world. Go is described as the world’s most complicated game and it was thought that humans would still prevail when matched against AlphaGo.
As reported in cnet.com, world champion Lee Sedol said, “Yesterday I was surprised (at losing) but today it’s more than that, I am quite speechless.” Two wins in a row was virtually unthinkable. The match is being held in South Korea as part of the Google DeepMinds Challenge. Millions of people around the world are watching as part of a live stream of this five-game competition.
“To put it in context, it’s a game for people who think chess is too easy. The victory has also come as a surprise to everyone, as it wasn’t thought that artificial intelligence, the science of computers that more closely mimic human smarts, was ready to take on humans at Go just yet. It’s a sign that AlphaGo is smarter than we thought.”
Why It’s Hot
AI was not thought to have advanced to the level of winning Go, the world’s most complex game. But it’s now done so twice. Time to worry about AI vs the human brain? According to Mark Zuckerberg, we have nothing to fear. As mentioned in the cnet.com article, he pointed out that we’re “nowhere near understanding how intelligence actually works,” never mind replicating and beating it.