SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Google’s Go-playing computer program again defeated its human opponent in a final match on Tuesday that sealed its 4:1 victory.
The week-long showdown between South Korean Go grandmaster Lee Sedol and AlphaGo, Google DeepMind’s artificial intelligence program, further confirmed the computer software has mastered a major challenge for artificial intelligence.
The series was one of the most intensely watched events in the past week across Asia. The human-versus-machine battle hogged headlines, eclipsing reports of North Korean threats of a pre-emptive strike on the South.
The final match was too close to call until the very end. Experts said it was the best of the five games in that Lee showed performed at his best and AlphaGo made few mistakes. Lee resigned about five hours into the game, failing to offset the extra points that AlphaGo got for playing a white stone.
The final match was broadcast live on three major TV networks in South Korea and on big TV screens in downtown Seoul.