A Google artificial intelligence algorithm on Tuesday inched closer to once again claiming the title of world champion of the ancient Chinese game of Go, besting its human opponent in the first match of a best-of-three championship.
The algorithm, called AlphaGo, is the brainchild of DeepMind, the artificial intelligence research arm of Google parent company Alphabet. It faced off against 19-year old Kie Jie, who is the current human world champion of Go, a strategy game similar to chess that requires players to place black or white stones on a board and capture the opponent's pieces or surround empty spaces to build territories.
"Last year, it was still quite humanlike when it played," Mr. Ke told the New York Times after AlphaGo's win on Tuesday. "But this year, it became like a god of Go."
If the algorithm wins a second game, it will be the second time it has stolen the Go crown from a human opponent. Last year, AlphaGo defeated the previous world champ Lee Sedol in Seoul, Korea. That tournament was a five-game series that saw AlphaGo win the first three matches, although the tournament continued just for fun, with Sedol making a comeback in game four only to be defeated again in the final match.
Related
- Google's AlphaGo to Challenge World Champs AgainGoogle's AlphaGo to Challenge World Champs Again
Go is a strategy game, and its players—human or otherwise—must frequently adapt and adjust to their opponents' moves. That makes it an ideal challenge for artificial intelligence, which can use machine learning techniques to avoid repeating its own past mistakes, as well as those of its human competitors, as DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis noted during Tuesday's match.
"Ke Jie is using the ideas AlphaGo used in the master series of online games in January against AlphaGo," Hassabis tweeted. "Intriguing to see what it will do."
In the end, the algorithm ended up beating Jie by just half a point, which suggests that the outcome of the final two matches is anyone's guess.
Google’s AlphaGo AI defeats the world’s best human Go player by the smallest possible margin. But that was on purpose.
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more on the web.
Relax Google's AlphaGo AI Beats Human Go Champion stories
The steps to take when everything is on the line.
Google I/O 2017 was a continued transformation of the company, from machine learning to greater control of Android. Here's what we learned at the show.
An update, which can even be delivered via Wi-Fi if your car supports it, will bring the latest car software from Google and Apple to more Ford owners.
Redesigned emojis that more closely resemble the circular smily faces you're used to will launch with the Android O operating system.
Google pulled back the curtain on both visible and behind-the-scenes improvements to its next mobile OS, Android O.
The new Daydream headsets, which go on sale this fall, won't require smartphones and will offer built-in position tracking.
iPhone users can now say 'OK, Google' to get access to an expanded Assistant feature set. Meanwhile, Google Home gets voice calls and more.
Thousands of software and hardware developers will descend on the Googleplex to hear about the company's latest products. Here's what they might be.
Google wants automakers to install a full copy of the Android OS—not just Android Auto—in their cars to control windows, air conditioning, and more.
Waymo is not playing around: as the New York Times first reported, Waymo is teaming up with Uber's chief rival, Lyft, on autonomous vehicle technology.
Google is working with chip makers to create code that doesn't need to be updated for each Android OS release.
PCMag visits GE's Research campus in upstate New York to learn more about its work to quantify everything and turn that data into a giant digital system.
Developers will be able to create their own chatbots using the same language processing that powers Amazon's own Alexa voice assistant.
Not content with electric cars, launching rockets, and trying to travel to Mars, Elon Musk also wants to add AI to our brains.
It might happen in 50 or 100 years, Steve Mnuchin said, but he thinks that in the short term, artificial intelligence is good for America.
Artificial intelligence has invaded public bathrooms in Beijing, where toilet paper dispensers now detect people's faces before giving out more tissue.
Artificial intelligence will make the electronic devices of tomorrow smarter, but not if their processors—made by companies like ARM—aren't up to the task.
Google is a relative newcomer to enterprise cloud offerings, and it is using the success of its other products to win over companies that may be considering Amazon or Microsoft.
The Jetson TX2 is the latest all-in-one computing module for processing artificial intelligence in the field instead of the cloud. Companies are using it to improve video conferencing quality and even help thin fields of lettuce.
'I have been proven completely wrong,' the former Google CEO told the crowd at RSA.
A robot ethicist from MIT's Media Lab helps us parse what our treatment of tech says about us.
New tournaments mean you don’t need to be a millionaire to compete.
Intel wants Euclid to be the brain, eyes, and communication device at the heart of new robot projects.
This little sensor hub can intelligently control your air conditioner for you.
The new Surface Pen is billed as the 'fastest pen ever.'
Now you can find location stories and hashtag stories in Instagram's Explore feed.
Huawei's first real laptop stuffs a real keyboard, a fingerprint sensor and Windows 10 into a MacBook-esque body.
Samsung's Galaxy Book has a lot of power under the hood, but it doesn't come cheap
The Surface Pro finally gets refreshed with a new CPU, a new hinge and a new pen. It also comes in fanless flavors, too!
You can now read select NYT, WSJ, Financial Times and The Guardian articles on Scribd.
If Singapore's RoboCop car can't chase you, its companion drone will.
