Synopsis
The intelligent robot DeepMind did not appear to be a worthy opponent for the world champion of the game of Go, Lee Sedol. From Bordeaux to Seoul, this film looks back at the tournament between them and asks what artificial intelligence can reveal about a 3,000-year-old game… and humanity.
A word from Tënk
In a world where computers had surpassed the computational capacities of the human brain for decades, Go long posed a daunting challenge to computer programmers, proving too complex for artificial intelligence programs unable to match the almost divine intuition of the game's grand masters. In AlphaGo, we quickly grasp the scale of the feat achieved by the DeepMind team. By developing the eponymous artificial intelligence program, these researchers and software engineers become veritable rock stars in the space of a few months.
Supported by the DeepMind machinery, this hierarchically structured team receives a backing commensurate with the industry that funds them. This feat is not the work of an individual, but of a collective that has built this modern-day cathedral that is AlphaGo. Can a program have creative intuition? Although AlphaGo is making great strides in this direction, this question resonates all the more today.
Gauthier Gidel
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science and Operations Research (UdeM)
and Senior Academic Member at Mila
References
Adversarial Policies Beat Superhuman Go AIs
Go master Lee says he quits unable to win over AI Go players
