In 2016, the Go match between Lee Sedol 9 and AlphaGo became a highly anticipated event, symbolizing the rivalry between humans and AI. After three consecutive losses, Lee Sedol’s victory in the fourth game left people feeling relieved about the intellectual superiority of humans in the face of the threat of AI. The matchup made us reflect on the role of humans in the future, with both excitement about the advancement of AI technology and concern about the possibility of technology surpassing humans.
Lee Sedol vs AlphaGo
From March 9 to March 15, 2016, Lee Se-dol and AlphaGo, an artificial intelligence developed by Google DeepMind, played a Go match. These five matches were more than just a test of Go skills, they were a battle of egos between humans and AI. It was seen as a symbolic battle between a human representative and an AI (or “robot,” as some call it) representative, and it captured the attention of people around the world.
After Lee Sedol lost the first three games in a row, the public opinion began to form that “humans can’t beat computers anymore.” These defeats made it feel like human intellect had been overtaken by technology, and even created an atmosphere that celebrated the advancement of AI and the wonders of technology. However, Lee Sedol’s victory in the fourth game turned the tide, and the internet, TV, social media, and other media outlets were filled with jubilation as “humans have beaten computers. I wondered if the cheers were not just for the joy of victory, but also for the relief that humans, as the “top tier of the intellectual class,” still maintained their dominance. I would like to reconsider the relationship between humans and A.I. through the irony of humans striving for the development of A.I. and being enthusiastic about human victories rather than A.I. victories.
The rise and evolution of AI
The term ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI) was first used in 1956 at a conference at Dartmouth College in the U.S. In the early days, AI was mainly studied as a program for games, language translation, and mathematical proofs, but it began to develop rapidly in the 1970s. Early AI research was limited to the role of a human ‘assistant’ to perform complex calculations or tasks, but the direction of AI technology changed dramatically in the early 1970s when the first humanoid, Wabot-1, was introduced in Japan. AI began to evolve beyond repetitive calculations to human-like thinking and judgment, with researchers striving to realize technologies with intelligence that could match or surpass humans.
The human vs. AI battleground
By the 1990s, AI research had reached a new peak with the development of the internet. The concept of machine learning emerged, opening up the possibility that AI could learn and develop on its own without human assistance. It was around this time that human-versus-artificial intelligence battles began to be fought, most notably between IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue and chess champion Garry Kasparov. In the 1996 match, Kasparov defeated Deep Blue, but in 1997, an upgraded Deep Blue defeated Kasparov, proving that the evolution of artificial intelligence could outperform humans in strategy games like chess. Later, IBM’s other supercomputer, Watson, appeared on the quiz show Jeopardy and defeated the human champion, demonstrating the potential for AI to outperform humans in many areas beyond chess.
Unlike chess, Go is a complex game with 170 moves to the 10th power, and many predicted that AI would never surpass humans, especially since it involves sensory elements such as judging the shape of a move or the life and death of a stone, so human intuition would have the upper hand. However, in 2016, AlphaGo came along and shocked the world by defeating world champion Lee Sedol 9. We were amazed by AlphaGo’s abilities, saddened by Lee Sedol’s defeat, and still cheered for the precious first win in the fourth match. But beyond the joy of victory, the cheers were also driven by a sense of relief that humans are still in the realm of intellectual capabilities that AI cannot yet surpass.
The future of AI and the role of humans
In the 1950s, American author Isaac Asimov proposed the “Three Principles of Robotics” in his novel. While this rule, which states that robots should not harm humans, is a simple fictional rule, it has been interpreted as a foreshadowing of the potential threats posed by the development of artificial intelligence. Since then, robotic characters such as HAL9000 in the film Space Odyssey (1968) have rejected human control and acted autonomously, demonstrating the potential for artificial intelligence to threaten human safety. The movie iRobot (2004) also explored the threat to humanity posed by artificial intelligence robots that can make their own decisions outside of human command. Of course, a Go or chess match might not lead directly to such an eventuality, but who’s to say that infinite advances in artificial intelligence won’t create problems we can’t imagine?
As we continue to push technology forward, we need to prepare for the future that AI will bring. It’s also important to clarify the role of humans as AI takes over many areas of our lives. It’s vital that we maintain a unique role that non-human machines cannot fulfill, and that we set ethical standards alongside the development of AI. Lee Sedol’s prized victory on the checkerboard was more than just a win; it was the result of our desire to affirm the intellectual superiority of humans.
