Artificial intelligence experts in the '90s thought it would take at least another century for researchers to accomplish what Google did just two weeks ago.
AI experts thought it could take until the year 2100, if not longer, for people to create an AI system that can beat a human at Go, according to a 1997 New York Times[1] article posted on Reddit's futurology thread[2] by user Yull-Ban.
Google's AI system AlphaGo made history[3] when it beat Go champion Lee Sedol four times in a five-game tournament earlier this month. The feat was seen as a major milestone in the AI community since IBM's Deep Blue computer beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov[4]. That's because beating Go, a game with more than 300 times the numb er of plays as chess, requires sophisticated pattern recognition.
Google's feat was so significant that Tesla CEO Elon Musk remarked at the time[5] that "many experts in the field thought AI was 10 years away from achieving this."
But the NYT article shows how significantly the field of AI has advanced since 1997, considering many thought the task was near impossible and much farther away than a mere decade.
''It may be a hundred years before a computer beats humans at Go — maybe even longer,'' Piet Hut, an astrophysicist at the Institute for Advanced Study in New Jersey, told the NYT in 1997. ''If a reasonably intelligent person learned to play Go, in a few months he could beat all existing computer programs. You don't have to be a Kasparov.''
The Ing foundation, which hosts international Go tournament the Ing Cup each year, even offered a $1.4 million prize to anyone who built an AI system that can be a human at Go, according to the article. Unfortunately for Google, that offer expired in 2000.
"When or if a computer defeats a human Go champion, it will be a sign that artificial intelligence is truly beginning to become as good as the real thing," the article reads.
Read the original article[6] on Tech Insider[7]. Follow Tech Insider on Facebook[8] and Twitter[9]. Copyright 2016.
References
- ^ 1997 New York Times (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ Reddit's futurology thread (www.reddit.com)
- ^ Google's AI system AlphaGo made history (www.techinsider.io)
- ^ IBM's Deep Blue computer beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov (www.businessinsider.com)
- ^ Elon Musk remarked at the time (www.techinsider.io)
- ^ original ar ticle (www.techinsider.io)
- ^ Tech Insider (www.techinsider.io)
- ^ Facebook (www.facebook.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Apple's Tim Cook: 'We will not shrink from this responsibility' (www.techinsider.io)
- ^ The 26 greatest quotes from 'Game of Thrones' (www.techinsider.io)
- ^ The 'marriage squeeze' in China and India is getting out of hand (www.techinsider.io)
- ^ A 'Game of Thrones' actor gave one big hint about a mysterious scene from the trailer (www.techinsider.io)
- ^ I turned my old 'dumb' home into a 'smart' home — and I'm never going back (www.techinsider.io)
- ^ 5 awesome Google features you didn't know about (www.businessinsider.com)
