Google AI beats South Korean Go pro, ends series 4-1
[SEOUL] Google's artificial intelligence (AI) programme beat South Korean professional Lee Sedol in the ancient board game Go on Tuesday, recovering from Sunday's loss to win its fourth match in a five-game series.
AlphaGo, developed by Google subsidiary DeepMind, had already clinched a series victory with its third win on Saturday in a result that shocked the world.
The programme made history last year by becoming the first machine to beat a human pro player, but 33-year-old Mr Lee was seen a much more formidable opponent. "One of the most incredible games ever," DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis tweeted following the match. "To come back from the initial big mistake against Lee Sedol was mind-blowing!"
Go, most popular in countries such as China, South Korea and Japan, involves two contestants moving black and white stones on a square grid, with the aim of seizing the most territory.
The game is perfect for AI researchers because there are simply too many moves for a machine to win by brute-force calculations, which is how IBM's Deep Blue famously beat former world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.
REUTERS
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Technology
Meta’s results are best viewed through rose-tinted AI glasses
'Harvesting data': Latin American AI startups transform farming
After long peace, Big Tech faces US antitrust reckoning
Tech’s cash crunch sees creditors turn ‘violent’ with one another
Tech millionaires chase billionaire tax shields with ‘swap fund’
Elon Musk’s Starlink profits are more elusive than investors think