# The game of Go has been conquered by artificial intelligence. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 27, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424 "2016-01-27T22:32:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/1 "2016-01-27T22:32:55Z")
It beat him 5 games to zip. Computer Go is (or was) a bigger problem than computer chess. > **[A computer beat a champion of the strategy game Go for the first time](https://mashable.com/archive/google-ai-beats-go-champ)** > > A computer beat a champion of the strategy game Go for the first time > [@](#): > > A computer just beat a champion of the complex strategy game Go, a feat that may have enormous implications for artificial intelligence (AI) research. > > Go isn’t a particularly popular or well-known game in the west, but it is popular worldwide, where it is played by about 40 million. There are Go tournaments that are held, at which regional and world champs are crowned. > > One such celebrated player, European Champ Fan Hui, just had his hat handed to him (five games to zip) by AlphaGo, a computer-based Go-playing AI built by Google’s DeepMind. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/2 "2016-01-27T23:04:14Z")
Okay maybe a might premature to say that, but not by much. An AI developed by Google has [beat the European champion 5-0](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/27/google-hits-ai-milestone-as-computer-beats-go-grandmaster)! Apparently, this has occurred about ten years sooner than anyone had predicted. To me this seems like a real holy-shit moment. What are some tasks this technology can be turned towards next? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/3 "2016-01-27T23:22:10Z")
Hopefully it will lead to AI for a driving game where the opponents aren’t complete idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/4 "2016-01-28T01:25:30Z")
That’s actually pretty interesting - I remember trying Go a looong time ago but never realized it was so intricate and such a complex problem for AI. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/5 "2016-01-28T02:23:07Z")
That’s amazing! I once had a go game on my computer at a time when the best chess programs could beat anyone below the level of master and, not only did I win with ease, playing on a 10 x 10 board I often wiped the computer out. And I am really what might be called a stonethrower (by analogy with wood pusher), 6 Qu. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/6 "2016-01-28T04:17:37Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Hopefully it will lead to AI for a driving game where the opponents aren’t complete idiots. Or FPS games where your companions don’t run RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU during a firefight. (Fallout 4, anyone?) ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/7 "2016-01-28T04:23:37Z")
A year or two ago i remember seeing a go program that could give an amateur a decent game being seen as state of the art. Pretty impressive to now be able to beat a pro. I do note it was the European champion though. I suspect the real masters are in Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/8 "2016-01-28T06:18:22Z")
[Thread in the Game Room on this topic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=782351) (reported for possible merge). ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/9 "2016-01-28T07:02:44Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > [Thread in the Game Room on this topic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=782351) (reported for possible merge). Ha. I posted this thread about half an hour earlier than that one. I didn’t see it as something for the game room because I was looking for a discussion about what it says about the current state of AI research, rather than what it means for the game of Go. The fact that the AI plays a game is incidental. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/10 "2016-01-28T07:27:48Z")
Thank goodness, Im tired of hearing how a glorified checkers game is better than Chess. THE WEST WINS!!! ---
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/11 "2016-01-28T08:05:45Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Thank goodness, Im tired of hearing how a glorified checkers game is better than Chess. THE WEST WINS!!! The West still loses - their game got knocked out first! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/12 "2016-01-28T09:33:18Z")
Guess Randall Munroe needs to update [this](https://xkcd.com/1002/). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/13 "2016-01-28T20:14:33Z")
[He already has](https://xkcd.com/1263/). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/14 "2016-01-28T20:16:51Z")
The AI is called _AlphaGo_? Seriously? They couldn’t have bought the right to call it _GoBot_? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/15 "2016-01-29T00:21:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > The AI is called _AlphaGo_? Seriously? > > They couldn’t have bought the right to call it _GoBot_? Go-team Go? Go Go Gadget? Go Forth and Die? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/16 "2016-01-29T02:06:32Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > A year or two ago i remember seeing a go program that could give an amateur a decent game being seen as state of the art. Pretty impressive to now be able to beat a pro. I do note it was the European champion though. I suspect the real masters are in Asia. The article mentions going after “Go’s greatest player ever,” Lee Sedol. The other article from the Game Room even correctly realized that his surname is Lee. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/17 "2016-01-29T02:10:46Z")
Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![cardinal\_fang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal_fang/32/15316_2.png) [@cardinal\_fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardinal_fang)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/18 "2016-03-09T04:04:50Z")
FYI, match 1 of the challenge match with Lee Sedol begins now. [Link](https://gaming.youtube.com/watch?v=vFr3K2DORc8). ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/19 "2016-03-09T08:48:11Z")
And the first game between AlphaGo (white) and Lee Sedol (black) is over. Lee Sedol resigned. AlphaGo has won the first game in the 5-game match. This is history in the making, and we are being witnesses to it. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424/20 "2016-03-09T08:52:16Z")
Just saw this thread, after replying to another one in MPSIMS on the same subject. I will see if I can get a moderator to merge the two threads. To sum up: AlphaGo is playing a 5-game match against the world #1 player, Lee Sedol, in Seoul. Today was the first game. Lee played black (moving first) and AlphaGo played with white. Lee Sedol resigned in the end, handing AlphaGo its first win. A historical event. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-go-has-been-conquered-by-artificial-intelligence/744424.md?page=2)