AlphaGo (2017) is a documentary directed by Greg Kohs, exploring a 3000 year old board game “go”. This board game is a cultural game played in Korea, that many children grow up learning to play during their school years. Within this documentary, the battle of the talented player Lee Sedol and an AI is taken to the test to determine the capability of the AI.
Within this weeks live tweeting, I expressed how interested I was in the concept of “human vs AI”. I discovered that AI’s don’t capture emotion and/or instinct the way humans do which is a strategy that the AI lacks. However there is so much opportunity and potential that AI’s can provide for this world in terms of the future of digital transactions. This is particularly capable of occurring in Asian countries as “Asia is one of the fastest growing regions in the global games market industry” (Schell, 2010). Although AI’s hold so much potential, as proven within the film, they are also capable of making mistakes.
This film is interesting to me as it is helpful to a large number of parties involved, including the players, audiences, and creators in the field of AI’s or other technology developments. It provides an understanding of what could possibly come in the future and allows the audience to “want” to play this board game. I found this film extremely interesting and educational, which is presented in a very clear and story-like structure.
After watching this film and live tweeting, the quote that Athique (2019) explores in ‘Asia in the digital age’ really reflected my opinion; “Given that the digital revolution in Asia has emerged from very different development agendas played out in a variety of settings and circumstances, we can hardly be surprised that the mantra of ‘ICT for Development’ has produced multiple understandings and outcomes”. This is due to technology being extremely advanced and having the capability of providing the future with high levels of AI development.
There are many different forms of technological developments that are to come in our future, this includes AI’s, e-sports, virtual reality within games, robots etc. These technologies are evolving to create a “diverse possibility of experiences” that may shape our future, particularly in gaming (Stuart, 2021).
References:
Athique, Adrian (2019), ‘Digital Transactions in Asia: Social, Economic and Informational Processes’, pp. 1-22, New York, NY United States; Routledge.
Schell, J (2010), ‘Why Massively Multiplayer Games Are so Popular’, Big Think, viewed 11 August 2021 https://bigthink.com/videos/why-massively-multiplayer-games-are-so-popular
Stuart, K (2021), ‘Think, Fight, Feel: How Video Game Artificial Intelligence is Evolving’, The Guardian, viewed 11 August 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/games/2021/jul/19/video-gaming-artificial-intelligence-ai-is-evolving
Wikipedia (2021), ‘Lee Sedol’, Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, viewed 11 August 2021 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Sedol
Caitlyn's Blog 
Reblogged this on Digital Asia.
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Hi Kirsty, your blog post is super interesting and I would love to learn more about Microsoft’s new IA, a link for more information would have definitely helped! I agree with you that AI’s are bringing to us a new form of user experience which is so cool. I speak more about the future of digital transaction in Asia in my blog (https://caitlynsblog.home.blog/2021/08/11/alphago-week-3/) and I think that Stuarts article on The Guardian will intrigue you in terms of how video game artificial intelligence are evolving, check it out! (https://www.theguardian.com/games/2021/jul/19/video-gaming-artificial-intelligence-ai-is-evolving)
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Hi Caitlyn,
I really enjoyed your blog on the film AlphaGo – I believe you and I share similar opinions regarding artificial intelligence (AI).
In my blog I also mentioned that AI doesn’t capture instinct the way that humans do – this was highlighted at the end of the match where AlphaGo was unable to predict Sedols movements on the board. I however also noted, that AI has an advantage of invulnerability. It was very clear that Sedol was very nervous when competing against the AI – something that could interfere with his judgement and movement on the board. AI however, is unable to feel nerves and lacks vulnerability, which I believe is an advantage.
Technology within the gaming sphere is already so advanced and this was really highlighted in the film. It will be interesting to see how AI continues to grow and be utilised.
Grace
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