The significance of move 37 by AlphaGo and move 78 by Lee Sedol
Hearing the word Artificial Intelligence(AI) might be daunting for some people and most probably, the first thing that comes to their mind when they hear AI is robots or the terminator. Of course, I was also the same. My knowledge of what AI is was very limited back then and I could only connect it to specific movies like Ex Machina or I, Robot where the setting is a dystopian future wherein technology has evolved so much that it wants to takeover humans and thus, the uprising and the battle of human vs robots ensue.
However, AI is not just limited to Ex Machina or robots like Sophia and it is actually quite ubiquitous and we unknowingly encounter it everyday. Few examples would be through chatbots in websites or Facebook messenger that helps us in our inquiries or those recommendations we get from Youtube or Netflix regarding which video/film/series should we watch next. These are applications of AI that either assists us or encourages us to further consume content in a site or an app. However, AI research and development goes further than this and the AlphaGo documentary shows how far AI’s computing power and learning abilities have come.
As much as we would like to claim that we are far better than machines, like what Lee Sedol thought at the start of the film, AlphaGo’s 37th move during the second match proved how limited we are as humans and that AI’s ability in determining probabilities and mapping out solutions and decisions are far greater. AI sees the logic in strange and unfathomable solutions that we can easily dismiss as something that will not work out. Just like what the film discussed, AI can actually teach us to be better and be more innovative as it deconstructs the assumptions and limitations we initially operate on as to why certain solutions might not work.
Also, as much as I would like to keep on reiterating how great AI is with its computing powers, I think it is necessary also to acknowledge how impressive Lee Sedol is. His 78th move a.k.a God’s move during the third match is my favorite part of the film. AlphaGo computed that only 1 in 10,000 humans would make the 78th move as it was something that was highly unlikely and has not yet been explored by AlphaGo. Yet, for Lee Sedol this was the only move he could have made during that time. Tables have turned during the third match and this time the best solution was determined by Lee Sedol and despite the advanced capabilities of AlphaGo to predict possible scenarios, this was something that it has neither recognized nor fully explored. In short, despite the advanced learning abilities of AlphaGo, Lee Sedol’s experience and skills that were honed over the years is something that it cannot easily learn or replace.
Truthfully, both AlphaGo and Lee Sedol’s win showcase how incredible humans are with their abilities and innovations. AlphaGo for me is not a competition for humans but is instead a manifestation of the great things humans can create. At the end of the day, AI was created to surpass human limitations to provide efficient solutions and further advance innovations and transformations in the society.
