Chapter 1113: Xiang Rong? I think I've heard of him before!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

When the news was released!

It created quite the stir throughout Asia!

On Weibo.

"Challenging all of humanity?"

"Holy shit!"

"The Americans are way too arrogant!"

"Didn't they only beat one person? What's that to brag about!"

"The issue here is that the AI defeated Chen Chi 9-dan. Old Chen is an American-born Chinese, and although he has never represented China as a participant in international tournaments, he has caused many problems for our national team at that level. He is one of the best Go players in the world and is ranked in the top 10 of the world rankings. Do you understand what this means? Don't tell me you guys don't know. It would be fine if it was just an ordinary amateur or pro Go player who lost to the artificial intelligence. But here, it's Chen Chi 9-dan who lost and got crushed by a score of zero to two! This news is really hard to believe!"

"It's only a machine. How can it be that strong?"

"Yeah, Go is too complicated. How can an AI possibly handle it?"

"The Americans claim that the machine can consider its moves."

"No way, right? Wouldn't that be really troublesome?"

"Yeah, the entire world of Go is faced with a huge crisis!"

"No, it's not only the world of Go. This is a calamity for all humanity!"

"Intelligence is humanity's most powerful and last line of defense. If humanity were to lose to a machine in the domain of intelligence, then…the consequences would be disastrous! This would subvert all that we have previously known!"

"Humans will become inferior to machines? Damn!"

"Fuck! What bullshit is this Peter!"

"Right, show them how powerful we humans are!"

…

Japan.

These netizens were also making a netizen!

" Nani? 1 "

"A letter of challenge?"

"Don't they know that we have Shinji 9-dan?"

"They're really overestimating what that AI can do!"

"Yeah, let's show them what we're capable of!"

"They wish to compete with humans on intelligence? What a joke! A machine is still not good enough to do that!"

How can an intelligence designed by humans possibly surpass the wisdom of humanity?

"But Chen Chi 9-dan already lost!"

"He must have been too careless!"

…

Korea.

"Peter?"

"It only won against one person and it's already issuing a challenge to all humanity?"

"How arrogant!"

"This is an insult aimed at Go!"

"It's taking Go to be too simple!"

"I don't believe that it can win. There are still so many outstanding Go players who are better than Chen Chi 9-dan. For example, Elder Park Yuhee, Shinji 9-dan, and Korea's great warrior—Xiang Rong 9-dan! I strongly believe that humanity's last line of defense will not be defeated by just a machine!"

"Ah? Isn't Xiang Rong 9-dan Chinese?"

"No, he's Korean, but that's another story…"

…

The news blew up!

News of this was overwhelming!

"Machine issues challenge to humanity!"

"Will humanity be able to preserve its last shred of dignity?"

"Peter—The strongest AI in history!"

"A machine that can think out its moves!"

"The greatest threat to humanity in history!"

"The International Go Federation 2 holds an emergency meeting to discuss strategic countermeasures!"

"The match between the AI and Chen Chi 9-dan revealed!"

Go is a very popular game in Asia, and everyone was no stranger to games played against machines. They could basically play against the computer with any of the Go software available on the market. Publishers refer to them as artificial intelligence. Although they were referred to as intelligence, those who understood the subject knew that it was not intelligent at all. These softwares would often commit a lot of mistakes that a normal Go expert would not make. They were also prone to making many bizarre moves. Some Go beginners would probably lose to it very frequently, but to any of the stronger amateur players, they would basically be able to thrash the computer opponent every time. Moreover, everyone disliked playing against a computer opponent as there were too many bugs in the program and the moves were too predictable.

But now, Peter had appeared out of nowhere!

This "artificial intelligence" program seemed to be completely different from the usual computer AI that they had come across and had completely defeated Chen Chi 9-dan. Although a lot of people were insulting and looking down on it, they were actually feeling quite afraid of it. That was because they couldn't understand what this thing was and if it could really consider its moves before making them!

…

At home.

His sisters were dumbfounded by the news!

His parents were also surprised and scooted over.

His second sister blinked and said, "Is it that strong?"

His mother said puzzled, "An artificial intelligence?"

His eldest younger sister's face paled a little. "If this Peter actually manages to defeat all the top Go players in the world, does it mean that machines could replace human intelligence in the future?"

His third sister exclaimed, "This is terrible!"

Zhang Ye just stared at the television and remained silent.

His eldest younger sister wanted to hear Zhang Ye's opinion. "Brother, what do you think?"

A lot of people were caught completely off guard by this news, including China Qiyuan, which was also plunged into a chaos. Many people were still in a state of shock. Perhaps only Zhang Ye remained the calmest among them. Other than the parent company that developed Peter, he was probably the only person who had an in-depth understanding of the program in this world!

Zhang Ye said, "To say that it can consider its moves, that's impossible."

His eldest younger sister asked puzzled, "Really?"

Zhang Ye nodded and said, "But if it is the thing that I know it is, it'll be very difficult for humans to win against it." In his previous world, not only was AlphaGo famous, it also captured the attention of all of Asia. Even Lee Sedol, number one in the world at the time, had lost to it. If this Peter was really the same thing as AlphaGo, then…it would cause a headache for the Go players of this world.

This program was really very strong!

It was definitely not the usual type of computer AI that people were used to!

At this moment, another astonishing event occurred that would capture the attention of all of Asia!

Someone had finally responded to the letter of challenge by Peter the AI!

All over Asia, televisions, newspapers, and the Internet suddenly released a piece of news simultaneously!

Shinji 9-dan, Japan's best Go player and ranked in the top 5 in the Go world, had announced in a press conference held in Japan that he would accept Peter's challenge!

The American company gave a response very quickly!

They didn't say more than what was needed!

There weren't any pleasantries exchanged either!

The reply only consisted of eight words: "In two days' time, let's battle in Tokyo!"

The battle was going to begin soon!

The Japanese had accepted the challenge!

Some people were feeling worried!

Some people were feeling excited!

The "war between humans and machines" was immediately hyped up!

…

His father said, "Shinji 9-dan? With him playing, we should be able to win, right?"

Zhang Ye shook his head and said with a smile, "That could be difficult."

His third sister asked in surprise, "He can't win?"

Zhang Ye said, "I wouldn't know about that. But in any case, it would be very difficult."

His eldest younger sister clenched her teeth and said, "But humanity still has Xiang Rong 9-dan. If there's really no way out, Xiang Rong 9-dan will be able to hold the last line of defense!"

"Right, Xiang Rong is very strong!" His father also knew about him.

Zhang Ye wondered out loud, "Who?"

"Xiang Rong 9-dan!" His eldest younger sister said, "He's currently the number one player in the Go world. Brother, don't you also know how to play Go? You don't even know him?"

Zhang Ye blinked and said, "This name sounds a little familiar. I think I've seen it somewhere before."

His father said, "Of course it would sound familiar. There's no one in this world who can play Go as well as him. If you play against him, you couldn't win even if he gave you a handicap of 20 stones."

His eldest young sister laughed as she corrected, "He would have to give him a handicap of 30 stones."

Zhang Ye wondered if there was really such a strong Go player in China.

Xiang Rong?

Xiang Rong?

Eh, where did I see this name?

Zhang Ye had forgotten.

1. What?

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Go_Federation

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