Humanity鈥檚 machines just outstripped us, again. A few hours ago in Seoul, South Korea, an artificial intelligence built by Google defeated top player Lee Sedol in one of our most complex games, Go.
鈥淭his is history, you saw it folks,鈥� said Chris Garlock of the American Go E-Journal, one of the match鈥檚 commentators. The match was the first of a five-game series in Seoul.
As the game reached its conclusion, the reality of Lee鈥檚 defeat set in slowly across the venue, prompting quiet gasps of shock. This was stark contrast to Tuesday, when some Korean journalists had openly cheered Lee at a press conference. It was hard not to feel sympathy with Lee as I watched this opening defeat. He carries the hopes of a nation 鈥� not to mention a species 鈥� on his shoulders.
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The news, that artificial intelligence has defeated humanity鈥檚 best Go player, has sent shock waves through the international Go community. 鈥淚 felt emotional and dizzy, and stepped outside for a minute,鈥� said Ben Lockhart, one of the top US amateur players, watching on in the press room.
AlphaGo made headlines in January when DeepMind 鈥� an artificial intelligence company that Google bought in 2014 鈥� announced that its AI had defeated reigning European champion Fan Hui 5鈥�0. Most observers had thought such an AI was a decade away. That prompted DeepMind to challenge Lee, considered the game鈥檚 dominant force of the last decade.
Putting on a show
The match against Fan was played in secret. Not this one. Google鈥檚 AlphaGo is facing off against Lee Sedol in the swanky Four Seasons hotel in the heart of downtown Seoul. The match has captured public imagination in Korea, with dozens of cameras and hundreds of reporters descending on the match site. The press filled two separate conference rooms 鈥� one with English commentary and one with Korean.
The match itself took place in a room that organisers wouldn鈥檛 disclose. There, isolated from outside noise, Lee sat across the board from Aja Huang, one of AlphaGo鈥檚 lead programmers, who referred to a monitor plugged into AlphaGo. A sign gave their names and flags 鈥� a Union Jack for Google DeepMind鈥檚 London headquarters.
Watch the best human player take on the mighty AlphaGo AI at Go
Go is riding a recent wave of pop culture relevance here in Korea, thanks to a couple of recent TV dramas featuring Go players. The game was televised live across Korea, China and Japan, where the game is most popular, and . On Naver, the top Korean search engine, combinations of 鈥淟ee Sedol鈥� or 鈥淎lphaGo鈥� were the top three search terms on the day of the match.
Human nature
Lee Sedol is a national hero in his native South Korea, known for his unconventional and creative play, as well as his brashness. He flashed his swagger at , predicting he would win in a 鈥渓andslide鈥�. 鈥淥f course, there would have been many updates in the last four or five months, but that isn鈥檛 enough time to challenge me,鈥� he said.
But after watching DeepMind explain the algorithm at a press conference on Tuesday, Lee admitted to being 鈥渜uite nervous鈥� and backed off from his 5鈥�0 prediction.
Lee had been in fine form, with a runner-up finish in the world championship and victory in the Korean national championship in January, where it is known as baduk. Most professional players thought that based on AlphaGo鈥檚 play in October, Lee would win handily. But no one knew how much progress it had made, or how it would respond to tougher competition.
Play-by-play
Lee showed his opening gambit in the game鈥檚 seventh move, with an unusual play in the middle right of the board, allowing him to stake out territory along the right side of the board. But AlphaGo continued to push, playing unconventionally for a human. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unheard of! It鈥檚 crazy,鈥� said Jackson.
AlphaGo fell further behind in the midgame with a bizarre stretch of moves that had observers shaking their heads. But as it fought back over the rest of the match, Lee grew agitated, dabbing at his chin with his fist and tapping his finger on the side of the board. 鈥淚鈥檝e never seen him so nervous before,鈥� said Lockhart.
The match ended in what Garlock called a 鈥渟lugfest鈥�, with AlphaGo鈥檚 performance impressing. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all that I hoped for or expected,鈥� said Michael Redmond, one of other commentators and the only Western Go pro to have reached 9-dan, the game鈥檚 highest level.
As the endgame played out, Lee appeared downbeat, his hands shaking at every move. He flashed a wan smile as he resigned.
The question is whether Lee can recover. In AlphaGo鈥檚 previous match, experts say Hui Fan鈥檚 moves grew erratic after dropping the first game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so shocking. I expected AlphaGo to win one game, but I didn鈥檛 expect it to be the first one,鈥� said Myung-wan Kim, a Korean 9-dan professional living in Los Angeles and commenting with Jackson.
鈥淚 am in shock, I admit that,鈥� said Lee. But he said he had no regrets about accepting the challenge and planned to come back strong in the rest of the matches. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think AlphaGo would play the game in such a perfect manner.鈥�
For more on machine learning, watch our Explanimator video:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bctMvKrB_y0[/youtube]
Read more:聽Does a machine beating a Go master mean human-like AI is close?
