Go grandmaster says computers 'cannot be defeated'
Go grandmaster says computers 'cannot be defeated'
AFP•November
27, 2019
Seoul (AFP) - The only human ever to beat Google's computer
algorithm at the ancient Chinese strategy game Go decided to retire because he
is convinced machines "cannot be defeated", a report said Wednesday.
South Korean Lee Se-Dol's five-match showdown with Google's
artificial intelligence program AlphaGo in 2016 raised both the game's profile
and fears of computer intelligence's seemingly limitless learning capability.
The 18-time world Go champion lost all but one encounter in the
series, but remains the only person to have won a game against AlphaGo.
The machines have since developed much further -- an updated
self-teaching version of the algorithm beat its predecessor 100 games to none.
"Even if I become the number one, there is an entity that
cannot be defeated," Lee, 36, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
"With the debut of AI in Go games, I've realised that I'm
not at the top even if I become the number one," added Lee, who retired
from professional Go competition last week.
Go originated in China 3,000 years ago and has been played for
centuries -- mostly in China, Japan and South Korea.
The rules are simple -- two players take turns placing black or
white stones on a square board with a 19x19 grid. Whoever captures the most
territory wins.
But the strategies needed to secure victory are complex, and
there are said to be more possible move configurations than atoms in the
universe.
Considered one of the greatest Go players of the modern era, Lee
started playing at the age of five and turned pro just seven years later.
But he attributed his AlphaGo win to a "bug" in the
program's response to his "tricky" play.
"My white 78 was not a move that should be countered
straightforwardly," he said.
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