When Google announced that its AlphaGo AI will be taking on the world’s top player of Go, Lee Se-dol, in a best of five series, many expected the AI to fall. However, in a surprising twist, AlphaGo has managed to do the unthinkable and beat Lee Se-dol in three straight games, effectively winning the tournament.
Out of the four games played thus far, AlphaGo managed to defeat Lee in the first three games, all of which were very close victories. In the fourth game that was played yesterday, Lee finally managed to outplay the AI, preventing a complete sweep of the series by AlphaGo.
“This win is invaluable and I would not trade it for anything else it the world,” says Lee. “It’s a real testament to Mr Lee’s incredible fighting spirit and he was able to play so brilliantly today after three defeats,” says Demis Hassabis, founder of Google’s DeepMind AI system.
While AlphaGo has already won the series, the fifth and final match will go on as usual. Scheduled to happen tomorrow after, it would be interesting to see if Lee could beat the AI for a second time.
Source: Reuters
