Artificial intelligence program powered by U of A alumni takes on world's best Go player

Computer scientists at the University of Alberta are gearing up to watch a modern-age version of David versus Goliath, where man will battle machine in complex strategy board game, Go. "You could study Go for a lifetime," said professor Martin Mueller, who is travelling to China on Saturday to watch a three-game match between professional Go player Ke Jie and the computer program AlphaGo. Developed at Google DeepMind by a team of scientists -- including U of A alumni David Silver and Aja Huang -- AlphaGo was the first artificial intelligence to defeat professional Go players. In March 2016, the program beat one of the world's best players, Lee Sedol, in Seoul, South Korea, in a historic series that saw AlphaGo win four out of five games. Go is an ancient Chinese game that involves placing pieces, named stones, on an empty board to form territories and surround the other player. The tournament at the upcoming Future of Go Summit, from May 23 to 27, has the makings of an epic contest.