Computer beats Human at Go
The news has been awash this past week about the news that a computer has beaten the world champ at the Chinese game of "Go" winning 3-1.
The world champ was said to be stunned and shaken at the result.
I can't help but analyse this situation and come to the conclusion that what's really happening here is two opponents are playing a game and one is cheating.
I would say the same about the so-called great chess computers.
I reason thus.
The computer is programmed logically with the rules and the permissible move of the pieces. It is also programmed to look at all the possible moves that are possible from any given board situation.
Thus a chess computer for example can be given the board situation at any stage of any game and subsequently evaluate all the possible future moves and then select the best one.
When you analyse this you realise that the computer is not really "thinking" at all. It is simply processing large amounts of data which it stores away in it memory which it can draw on at any time.
The human likewise processes and draws on memory of past games and past positions, however, the human does not have the same memory capacity as the machine.
This then is simply the equivalent of cheating. It is no better than a healthy 2-legged man challenging a 1-legged man to a race. What would be the point? What would it prove?
Equally Michael Shumacher with his F1 car could challenge Joe Bloggs with his Ford Mondeo to a race but again what would be the point? The race would effectively be rigged from the start with Michael having vastly superior equipment.
Similarly then a man with fantastic memory challenging a man with alzheimers is an exercise in futility. It's not a fair and level playing field so it's pointless.
So what then is the point of pitting a computer with vast memory capacity against a human with far less capacity?
What does it prove?
I will say this. It does not prove the computer is in any sense intelligent. It just has a big memory. Big deal !