The Google-developed computer program, AlphaGo, may have defeated international Go champion Lee Se-Dol 3-0 in a best of five series, but today Lee struck back, finally winning his first game in a five-game match in Soeul.
The match was part of a competition for a $1 million prize: If AlphaGo won, the money would go to charity, whereas if Lee won, he would get the dough. The game Go has long been considered the Mount Everest of Artificial Intelligence—there are more possible move configurations than there are atoms in the universe—with true mastery (thought to be) only possible for humans.
Naturally, shock resonated around the world, and Lee—who has ranked at the top of the world for a lot of the past 10 years and who has 18 international titles under his belt—didn’t take his initial three losses lightly.
“I don’t know what to say, but I think I have to express my apologies first,” he said at a post-game press conference, according to Phys.org. “I apologise for being unable to satisfy a lot of people’s expectations. I kind of felt powerless.”
“Yes, I do have extensive experience in playing the game of Go, but there was never a case where I was under this much pressure…and I was incapable of overcoming it,” Lee added.
Humanity striking back
But now Lee managed to deal the first blow against AlphaGo, whose total record is now 9 and 1—a record that includes a 2015 5-0 victory over Fan Hui, the champion Go player of Europe.
The error came during move 79, according to Demis Hassabis, the founder of the group that created AlphaGo, Google Deepmind. The AI “thought it was doing well, but got confused,” he said, according to The Verge.
“I’ve never been congratulated so much just because I won one game!” said Lee during a post-game conference, adding that this single win felt more valuable after having lost.
It seems that even the creators of the AI are pleased with the results—as it will help them make the program stronger down the line.
“Lee Se-dol is an incredible player and he was too strong for AlphaGo today,” said Hassabis. “For us this loss is very valuable. We’re not sure what happened yet.”
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Image credit: Google
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