"Ultimately, it doesnt matter whether AlphaGo wins or loses.This weeks match-up Wholesale tuft embroidery machines in the eastern Chinese city of Wuzhen, between Ke and an updated version of AlphaGo, has been highly anticipated amid speculation about whether AI could beat the worlds top player.AlphaGo stunned the Go community and futurists a year ago when it trounced South Korean grandmaster Lee Se-Dol four games to one.But DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis dismissed such concerns.Beautiful gameBefore AlphaGo, mechanical mastery of the game had been perceived to be years away.Computer programmes have previously beaten humans in cerebral contests, starting with the victory by IBMs Deep Blue over chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997.
Ke, a phenom who went pro at age 11 and has described himself as "pretentious", has vacillated between awe and disdain for AlphaGo.Ke and AlphaGo will face off again on Thursday and Saturday."This isnt about man competing with machines, but rather using them as tools to explore and discover new knowledge together," he said before Tuesdays match.But AlphaGos success is considered the most significant yet for AI due to the complexity of Go, which has an incomputable number of move options and puts a premium on human-like "intuition", instinct and the ability to learn.He called it a "cold machine" lacking passion for the game in comments Monday night on Chinas Twitter-like Weibo platform. either way, humanity wins..But a visibly flummoxed Ke -- who last year had declared he would never lose to an AI opponent -- said AlphaGo had become too strong for humans, despite the razor-thin half-point winning margin.After Lee lost to AlphaGo last year, Ke boldly declared "Bring it on!"But the writing was on the wall in January when Ke and other top Chinese players were flattened by a mysterious competitor in online contests. It is partly self-taught, having played millions of games against itself following initial programming.
That marked the first time a computer programme had beaten a top player in a full contest and was hailed as a landmark for artificial intelligence (AI).Go involves two players alternately laying black and white stones on a grid, seeking to seal off the most territory.AlphaGos feats have fuelled visions of a brave new world of AI that can not only drive cars and operate "smart homes", but potentially help mankind figure out some of the most complex scientific, technical and medical problems."I feel like his game is more and more like the Go god.. Really, it is brilliant," he said.Googles computer algorithm AlphaGo narrowly beat the worlds top-ranked player in the ancient Chinese board game of Go on Tuesday, reaffirming the arrival of what its developers tout as a ground-breaking new form of artificial intelligence.AlphaGo took the first of a scheduled three games against brash 19-year-old Chinese world number one Ke Jie, who after the match annointed the programme as the new "Go god".