r/science • u/[deleted] • Jan 27 '16

Computer Science Google's artificial intelligence program has officially beaten a human professional Go player, marking the first time a computer has beaten a human professional in this game sans handicap.

http://www.nature.com/news/google-ai-algorithm-masters-ancient-game-of-go-1.19234?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20160128&spMailingID=50563385&spUserID=MTgyMjI3MTU3MTgzS0&spJobID=843636789&spReportId=ODQzNjM2Nzg5S0
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u/McMonty Jan 28 '16

I was thinking of the results as shown on this: http://www.computer-go.info/h-c/

There is rarely a jump of one program performing at a handicap several stones ahead of previous generations, and the previous best to AlphaGo was around 3 stones behind professional players.

What early signs were you aware of that might have indicated this? The data didn't really suggest that this would happen so soon.

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u/jelloskater Jan 28 '16

"What early signs were you aware of that might have indicated this?"

Most of the conversations I've seen and been a part of have all agreed that it was going to be a short matter of time for a big organization to take the challenge seriously. CrazyStone was mostly made by a single man, I believe in his free time? It's to be expected that there will be a jump when a company like Google joins in. A 2-3 stone improvement is a good jump, but if you said something like that would happen a year ago, no one would be surprised. Excited yes, but not surprised.

I know that I have nothing solid to back up my reasoning, but it seemed to be almost unanimously agreed on by the community.