DeepMind AlphaGo Defeats Go No 1 Player Ke Jie

Google’s AI, DeepMind AlphaGo, has defeated the world’s No 1 Go player Ke Jie.

AlphaGo secured the victory after winning the second game in a three-part match.

Ke Jie had played “perfectly” and “pushed AlphaGo right to the limit”, said DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis.

Image source Wikimedia

Following the defeat, Ke Jie told reporters: “I’m a little bit sad, it’s a bit of a regret because I think I played pretty well.”

In Go, players take turns placing stones on a 19-by-19 grid, competing to take control of the most territory.

Go is considered to be one of the world’s most complex games, and is much more challenging for computers than chess.

AlphaGo has built up its expertise by studying older matches and playing thousands of games against itself.

The company says the eventual plan is to deploy its artificial intelligence “in areas of medicine and science”.