AlphaGo: beating humans is one thing but to really succeed AI must work with them

"Really, the only game left after chess is Go," was how Demis Hassabis set the scene ahead of AlphaGo's match with world champion Lee Sedol earlier this month. Either Hassabis's copy of the latest Street Fighter didn't get delivered on time, or he was trying to be a little poetic to mark the occasion. Either way, you'd be forgiven for thinking there really were no games left to conquer after the media reaction to AlphaGo winning the first three games in a best-of-five against its human opponent. It's been a curious month to be an AI researcher. Watching the contest, which AlphaGo eventually won 4-1, I've learned a lot about Go and one of the most interesting things is how the spaces left empty on the board can often be as important and meaningful as the spaces where stones are played.