Man vs Machine? AlphaGo to play with Chinese masters

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To Go where no computer has gone before.

AlphaGo, the chessboard-game playing computer, is set to challenge the masters of the Chinese game Go. And these aren’t just ordinary experts. They come from where the game was invented.

Developed by Google’s DeepMind in London, AlphaGo famously beat South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol in 2016. The computer mind’s next opponent is Ke Jie, a 19-year-old Chinese genius recognized as the world’s best Go player.

The battle between AlphaGo and the Chinese Go master has been scheduled for late May, according to China's General Administration of Sport.‍ The head-to-head will take place in Wuzhen, east China’s Zhejiang Province, where the World Internet Conference is held annually.

A part of Wuzhen, seen on March 28, 2017. /VCG Photo

More details will be released on April 10.

"Even if AlphaGo beats Lee Se-dol, it can't beat me," Ke said on his official Weibo account before the famous South Korean match in March 2016.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma told an IT conference earlier this month he was not impressed by AlphaGo’s demonstrations.

Jack Ma gestures while speaking at the China IT Summit on April 2, 2017. /VCG Photo

Ma said AI should stop humiliating humans on things they can do, and seek to help humans with things they can't.