tech
December 15, 2025
AlphaGo
Novel AI system mastered the ancient game of Go, defeated a Go world champion, and inspired a new era of AI.
TL;DR
- AlphaGo mastered the ancient Chinese game of Go, a game far more complex than chess.
- It defeated human Go world champion Lee Sedol in 2016, a landmark achievement that inspired new AI approaches.
- AlphaGo combined deep neural networks (policy and value networks) with reinforcement learning.
- The AI system learned by playing amateur games and then against itself thousands of times.
- AlphaGo achieved a 9 dan professional ranking, the highest possible certification for a computer Go player.
- Inventive moves played by AlphaGo, such as Move 37 in game two, challenged traditional Go wisdom.
- AlphaGo's success demonstrated the applicability of neural networks to complex problems and the power of reinforcement learning.
- Its successors, AlphaZero, MuZero, and AlphaDev, continue to build on its legacy for complex challenges.
Continue reading
the original article