24137 - The contribution of Go

N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Vicky Baklessi

The contribution of Go to the evolution of Mankind is obvious in the Far East and this is evident also from the scientific performances of China, Japan and Korea. The very fact that the champion of Go is from South Korea is of course indicative that it is not just a matter of mass. Also the fact that the most advanced software AlphaGo which uses deep neural networks for the calculations, competed with Lee Sedol (9 dan) proves that this offer becomes practical, since it helps research in the field of artificial intelligence. The champion’s capability, his fighting spirit and his magnanimity managed to show, at least in the fourth match, weaknesses of the program and to contribute in a practical manner to the evolution of the program. If we consider that the specific AlphaGo, in the eighteenth version played through a 1202 core computer (CPU), we can realize also the feat from both sides in terms of intelligence and the computational power. In this framework, because the game Go, due to its combinatorial complexity had remained the final target in board games for the evolution of artificial intelligence, it proved that it concerns a new phase which begins in research. But even if we don’t examine this side of it, we can see its contribution to the field of smart education, where its introduction allows the evolution of the little humans’ thinking through the mental schemes of tactics and strategy. In fact its strategy is enforced compared to that which we have in chess. Which means that Mankind is thinking differently also due to Go.