In a showdown of man versus machine -- the machine is winning.
A computer program built by google now leads in a best of five contest against the world's top player in a very complex board game. In Seoul, South Korea last week -- the artificially intelligent computer, "Alpha Go" defeated the global champion in the ancient Chinese board game called, "Go".
Artificial intelligence is the power of a machine to copy intelligent human behavior like decision making. The computer win by Alpha Go signifies a significant advancement in artificial intelligence -- something scientists didn't think would happen for another decade.
Ivan Watson has more.
--REPORTER PKG-AS FOLLOWS--
BELIEVE IT OR NOT….THESE ARE THE FINAL NAIL-BITING MOMENTS OF AN HISTORIC CONTEST BETWEEN MAN AND MACHINE.
(Announcer) "AlphaGo scores another win, in a dramatic and exciting game."
KOREAN CHAMPION LEE SEDOL EMERGES IN DEFEAT…
AFTER LOSING THE SECOND BATTLE IN A ROW AGAINST A GOOGLE SUPER-COMPUTER CALLED ALPHAGO.
HE SAYS HE'S IN SHOCK.
(Lee Sedol in Korean) "I'm just speechless. Looking at today's game, it was a complete defeat," HE SAYS. "Alphago played a perfect game."
THE TWO OPPONENTS HAVE BEEN FACING OFF AT GO. MANY DESCRIBE IT AS THE WORLD'S MOST COMPLICATED STRATEGY WAR GAME.
(Ivan Watson and Andrew Okum, President of American Go Association)
WATSON: "the computer just beat the human champion- Again. How do you feel?"
OKUM: "worse" [laughs]
GO PLAYERS LIKE ANDREW OKUM…ARGUE THAT TO BE GOOD AT THIS 2500 YEAR OLD GAME…YOU NEED TO HAVE INTUITION…A CHARACTERISTIC THAT WE USED TO THINK WAS UNIQUELY HUMAN.
(Andrew Okum, President of American Go Association) "We like to think of this as a very human thing. And we really enjoy playing a game that even today with computers being so strong, they couldn't play. Up to a few months ago, they could pick out a terrorist's face in a crowd or land an airplane when it was in trouble but it couldn't beat us at this. Now they can. That's sad. We don't like that."
NEARLY TWENTY YEARS AGO, A COMPUTER CALLED DEEP BLUE BEAT THE WORLD GRANDMASTER GARY KASPAROV AT CHESS.
GO…IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED.
(voice over from Google/DeepMind video) " Another way of viewing the complexity of Go is the number of possible configurations on the board is more than the number of atoms in the universe."
LAST OCTOBER, ALPHAGO BEAT EUROPE'S GO CHAMPION IN FIVE STRAIGHT GAMES.
IN THE FIVE MONTHS SINCE THEN…ALPHAGO HAS GOTTEN MUCH, MUCH BETTER AT THE GAME…
SAYS KOREAN GO MASTER KWON KAP-YONG.
(Kwon Kap-Yong, Go Master) "It's scary how quickly it upgraded," HE TELLS ME.
THE SUPER-COMPUTER'S DESIGNERS INSIST ALPHAGO IS A STEP TOWARDS SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER IN COMPUTER SCIENCE.
Demis Hassabis, co-founder Google DeepMind) "It is just one rung on the ladder towards solving artificial intelligence."
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE…OR A.I. …IS SOMETHING THAT CONTINUES TO CAPTURE POPULAR IMAGINATION.
[from "Ex Machina"]
"Are you building an A.I.?"
AT THIS CHALLENGE MATCH…THAT SCIENCE FICTION FANTASY..FEELS ONE STEP CLOSER TO REALITY.
IVAN WATSON, CNN, SEOUL
Human intelligence finally outwitted its artificial opponent on Sunday. Lee See-Dol won a game of Go against the Alpha Go computer program. It's the world champion's first victory against the machine -- which won the three previous games.
Google engineers say a defeat will do the artificial brain a favor, because it reveals the holes in its programming and it learns from those mistakes.
Instructional Links
Encyclopedia Article: Science Online, Dictionary of Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence
http://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/292422?q=artificial%20intelligence
May Need Password
Class Activity & Video: PBS LearningMedia, Cyberchase, The Donut Doze Off, Multidigit Multiplication with Standard Algorithm
Encyclopedia Article: Science Online, Dictionary of Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence
http://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/292422?q=artificial%20intelligence
Website Article: Pitara, What is Artificial Intelligence?
http://www.pitara.com/science-for-kids/5ws-and-h/what-is-artificial-intelligence/