AlphaGo beats Lee Se-dol for the third time to take Google DeepMind Challenge series

DeepMind’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) AlphaGo is the official winner defeating South Korean champion Lee Se-dol for the third time in a five-game live Go match in the Four Seasons Hotel, Seoul. Google bought the artificial intelligence company DeepMind Technologies for $650 million in January 2014. According to a report by The Verge, the ancient Chinese board game of Go has long been considered impossible for computers to play at a world-class level, despite similar breakthroughs in other games like chess and checkers. The million dollar winning purse will now be donated to Unicef and STEM while Lee is still paid $150,000 for playing all five games. The Chinese board game is considered to be a much more complex challenge for a computer than chess. Go’s simple rules and elaborate possibilities have made it one of the most sought-after milestones in the field of AI research. Lee Se-dol has 18 international titles and is a 9-dan, the highest rank possible in Go, and one of the top players in the world as well. The report added that, “two hours into the game commentators were leaning towards DeepMind’s AI for the victory. The grandmaster was committed until the finish, showing considerable strain to concentrate and attempting end-game moves to find at least some chance to even the score.”