Re:AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol again in match 2 of 5
by VladKovac on Thursday March 10, 2016 @08:58AM
(#11259184)
Isn't this a good thing? Why are high IQ people devoting their entire lives to a game? Maybe this will make them shift their priorities to solving problems that only really smart humans (like them) can solve.
Re:AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol again in match 2 of 5
by cli on Thursday March 10, 2016 @10:59AM
(#11259930)
At the root of it, they earn a living by being entertainment. This can be applied to any of the arts or sports. Why are smart people making movies, writing fiction, making music? I think these are the sorts of things that make life worth living.
Re:AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol again in match 2 of 5
by CydeWeys on Thursday March 10, 2016 @02:23PM
(#11261474)
Abstract strategy games require highly domain specific skills. These skills do not transfer to other endeavors. The world champion Go player might just end up as, had he not played Go, a mid-level lawyer or manager. Who knows. Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=nCMWxjkTAvEC&pg=PA130&lpg=...
Re:AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol again in match 2 of 5
by iopq on Thursday March 10, 2016 @11:47AM
(#11260277)
Didn't happen in Chess, won't happen in Go. Entertaining a few million people is too lucrative. Everyone wants to cheer for their country in an international competition, so it's always going to have large prize pools.
Re:AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol again in match 2 of 5
by netheril96 on Thursday March 10, 2016 @12:08PM
(#11260398)
Uh, talent for Go doesn't translate automatically into talent for math, physics, finance or other branches of science. Even if they are, being the top Go player is probably more attractive than being a meh quant or programmer.
Re:AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol again in match 2 of 5
by geophile on Thursday March 10, 2016 @11:19AM
(#11260055)
This could equally apply to the bankers -- and the software engineers who enable them -- who crashed the economy in 2008. Go and chess players have contributed much more to the world than these psychopaths.
Re:AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol again in match 2 of 5
by edraferi on Thursday March 10, 2016 @07:17AM
(#11258726)
Perhaps Go playing is on it's way to being one of the first white collar jobs to be lost to AI.
I don't think people will pay to watch Go Bots square off, but I think this example of "obsolete education" is a great reminder that it's not just the assembly line jobs on the chopping block.
Re:AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol again in match 2 of 5
by m741 on Thursday March 10, 2016 @09:58AM
(#11259514)
Google, should they win, is donating their money to Go charities, STEM education and UNICEF.
So they're doing what you want them to (I can't find a summary of how they're allocating the money across each category). Personally I think the work UNICEF is doing to help women in developing countries is more important than Go charities, but I guess their choices should satisfy everyone.
Re:AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol again in match 2 of 5
by Cpoll on Thursday March 10, 2016 @09:53AM
(#11259484)
I wouldn't worry about a quick shift like that. You can look to the Chess world, there are still plenty of masters and grandmasters earning their bread. There's still lots of interest in the human vs. human aspect of the game. In lectures, some GMs make good use of those widely available AIs for analysis, too.
It's an upright denial to the way of life they so chose and devoted.
IMHO Google should donate the prize towards Go education and Go organizations instead of some random charities.