Demis Hassabis plays to DeepMind's strengths by using artificial intelligence for social impact

On a chilly March afternoon last year in the South Korean capital Seoul, a computer algorithm made history. A program called AlphaGo beat the reigning human world champion at go, an ancient Chinese board game considered to be one of the most complex pastimes man has ever devised. The game has remained an inviolably human pursuit for centuries, and one of the hardest challenges for artificial intelligence (AI) because of the vast number of possible moves -- more than the number of atoms in the universe -- and the need to employ creativity to win. In Seoul's Four Seasons hotel, AlphaGo's victory over five games was ruthless: Lee Sedol, the 33-year-old human go grandmaster, lost 4-1. At a press conference afterwards, he said with a trace of wonder: "Today, I am speechless."