The Move That No Human Would Play
DeepMind's AlphaGo stunned the world by defeating Go champion Lee Sedol, making a mysterious move that redefined what machines could create.
Wesalius / CC BY-SA 4.0
It's not a human move. I've never seen a human play this move. So beautiful.
— Fan Hui
In March 2016, AlphaGo, a computer program developed by DeepMind, stunned the world by defeating Go grandmaster Lee Sedol in a historic match. AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol
The match, which took place in Seoul, South Korea, saw AlphaGo win four out of five games, with the program’s unconventional play style, particularly in Game 2, earning it widespread acclaim. Notably, AlphaGo’s 37th move in this game was described as a “move that no human would play,” challenging the notion that Go’s complexity would prevent machines from mastering the game. This victory marked a significant milestone in the field of artificial intelligence, demonstrating the potential of deep neural networks and tree search algorithms in solving complex problems. Following the match, Google DeepMind announced that the $1 million prize would be donated to charity, while Lee Sedol received $170,000 for his participation and victory in one game.
Why it matters: AlphaGo’s triumph over Lee Sedol was a pivotal moment in the history of AI, illustrating the rapid advancement of machine learning techniques and their ability to tackle problems once thought to be the exclusive domain of human intuition. The match highlighted the potential of AI to push the boundaries of what machines can achieve, setting the stage for future developments in the field.
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Why This Mattered
AlphaGo's victory over one of Go's greatest players shattered the assumption that Go's intuitive complexity would resist machine mastery for decades. Move 37 in Game 2 — a placement no human expert would consider — became an iconic symbol of AI creativity, forcing a reckoning with whether machines could possess something resembling intuition.
