An AI gave a Go champ a head start—and still beat him
The Chinese tech firm Tencent has shown that its AI software can school humans at Go.
What’s new: Wired notes that Tencent’s Fine Art AI, built in 2016, recently beat the world’s number-two Go player, Ke Jie, at the ancient board game. That’s despite the fact that Jie was given a two-piece head start.
Backstory: Go is incredibly complex and was once considered a huge AI challenge. Then Google’s AI subsidiary DeepMind famously beat the world’s best players with its AlphaGo software and later developed a self-learning version, called AlphaGo Zero, that is even better.
Why it matters: Fine Art’s latest victory is impressive given the head start. But perhaps more important is how it shows that China’s deep commitment to becoming an AI powerhouse is working. It’s catching up with the West, and fast.
Deep Dive
Artificial intelligence
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
Robot vacuum companies say your images are safe, but a sprawling global supply chain for data from our devices creates risk.
The viral AI avatar app Lensa undressed me—without my consent
My avatars were cartoonishly pornified, while my male colleagues got to be astronauts, explorers, and inventors.
Roomba testers feel misled after intimate images ended up on Facebook
An MIT Technology Review investigation recently revealed how images of a minor and a tester on the toilet ended up on social media. iRobot said it had consent to collect this kind of data from inside homes—but participants say otherwise.
How to spot AI-generated text
The internet is increasingly awash with text written by AI software. We need new tools to detect it.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.