SEOUL: A Google-developed computer programme had the last word on Tuesday in its machine vs human challenge with South Korean Go grandmaster Lee Se-Dol, winning the final game for a sweeping 4-1 series victory.

The win was vindication for AlphaGo’s creators, DeepMind, who had touted the programme as a new form of artificial intelligence (AI) capable of “intuitive” thought and with wide-ranging real-world applications.

“I’m kind of speechless, that was the most mind-blowing game experience so far,” said DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.

“Early on ... it seemed that AlphaGo made quite a big mistake, but in the end it was able to get back into the match for an incredibly close, intense finish,” Hassabis said. “We’re just kind of stunned really,” he added.

A visibly upset Lee was left at the table with his head in his hands, after resigning at the end of a close-fought, five-hour battle with the AlphaGo programme.

After Lee had managed to pull one back for humanity in game four, AlphaGo was back on its best destructive form, using its deep neural networks to finally outwit the 33-year-old in a nerve-wracking end game.

“I started off the match thinking that I had an advantage, but the fact that I was still defeated showed up my shortcomings,” Lee told reporters afterwards.

The South Korean, who has 18 international titles under his belt and is widely considered one of the greatest Go players of the modern era, said he felt he had under-performed against a formidable, but beatable opponent.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2016