Chinese Go master Ke Jie says he could lose to AlphaGo

Chinese No.1 Go master Ke Jie, 19, said, “I could lose,” after watching Korean Go grandmaster Lee Se-dol was defeated by AlphaGo, Google’s artificial intelligence program, in three consecutive matches on Saturday. Until Thursday when AlphaGo defeated Lee in the first match, Ke was confident and posted on Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter, that he has a success rate of 60 percent, saying, “AlphaGo beat Lee but it can’t beat me.”

But after watching three matches, he said, “AlphaGo was perfect and made no mistake. If the conditions are the same, it is highly likely that I can lose.” Renmin Wang, the online edition of People’s Daily, the Chinese communist party-run newspaper, said, “Unlike after the first match, Ke Jie is a little agitated after watching the third match.”

“As AlphaGo learns endlessly, all human beings could be defeated in the near future,” Ke said on AlphaGo’s capabilities.

“A group of Go masters will be fine (for a match), but only one Go master (like Lee) cannot compete against AlphaGo. There should be at least five Go masters,” Chinese Go player Gu Li said while watching the third match on Saturday. “Though Ke Jie is a good Go player, he can hardly beat Alpha Go, too.” Gu won an international title as the youngest Go player and used to be Lee Se-dol’s rival.

Iyama Yuta, Japan’s no.1 Go master, said on Saturday, “Artificially intelligence beat probably the best Go master in the long Go history, which is a shock.” When asked about whether artificial intelligence surpassed humans, he said with frustration, “We have no choice to accept it.” Japanese media, which did not report much about the news until Friday, revealed their surprise by using words, such as “a marvelous evolution,” “shocking,” and “fearful.”

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