Chapter 1116: Humanity vs. Artificial Intelligence (Middle)

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

In China. On the Internet.

Things were blowing up.

On this day, countless people were posting proclamations of "Humanity Will Prevail!" across the Internet. Everywhere, in workplaces, hotels and bars, from the streets to the alleys, discussions were being had about this war between humans and machines. If it was chaotic before, now nearly everyone knew about it! The reason for this was because a lot of people did not believe it at first. They felt that it was just a gimmick arranged by the Americans, spending money to arrange for a showcase match between Peter and Chen Chi 9-dan as a fancy way of hyping up the promotion for their artificial intelligence program. But now, even Shinji 9-dan had lost in unexpected fashion!

He couldn't lose again!

If he lost the next game, then everyone would lose!

Shinji 9-dan could not afford to lose any more!

Humanity could not afford to lose either!

…

With the public's attention.

The second game showdown commenced!

Many countries across Asia were broadcasting the game live!

In Tokyo, countless foreign and domestic reporters had gathered outside the competition venue. They were all waiting for the final moment!

A diagonal move!

A knight's move!

A horizontal stretch!

A push through 1 !

The game lasted for a full five hours!

Back at home.

Zhang Ye's father had been watching the game the entire afternoon.

His mother was forced to watch alongside her husband without any knowledge.

"Aiyo, this move isn't good!

"Push through!

"Don't retreat 2 !

"Make a knight's move over there!"

His father was watching excitedly while commenting on the game like a layman would to a professional. He was actually not good at all. He was just watching for the fun of it.

However, the only person who really knew about Go at home did not even bother watching the game.

Zhang Ye was listening to music in his room. After watching the match between Shinji 9-dan and Peter yesterday, he did not pay any further attention to the match. This was because he felt that Shinji 9-dan's level was just average. Even the seemingly on steroids "WuChanghe" from the other day was better than him. And what exactly was Wu Changhe's level? He was a professional player retired for over 20 years who probably had not even retained half his skill from back then. Since Shinji 9-dan was not any better than him, it would have been a wonder if he could actually win against the AI. This program was definitely not as simple as everyone thought it to be. It would be very difficult for any Go player to win against it. Or at least to Zhang Ye, a computer program that had compiled all the data of the Go players and the millions and millions of games played would already make it unfair for any human players to play against.

Indeed, a cry from his father rang out from the living room!

"He lost!"

Shinji 9-dan had lost!

He suffered a terrible defeat, 2-0!

On TV, Commentator Chen Ying looked horrified!

Host Yu Yingyi said in pity, "It was only a difference of five points! Only five points!"

Chen Ying gave Yu Yingyi a look but did not say anything else.

Only five points?

Isn't a difference of five points already a lot?

And throughout the game, PETER had been constricting Shinji 9-dan's play! If it weren't for Shinji 9-dan taking a defensive strategy right from the start, would he have lost by just a five point difference? In this game, the machine had taken the advantage almost from the start. Up until the end, Shinji 9-dan did not even get a chance to turn things around!

The Japanese netizens blew up!

"No!"

"That's impossible!"

"He lost?"

"How could this be?"

The netizens in China were also gripped by the developments!

"Humanity has lost?"

"That was a really bad loss!"

"What's with Shinji 9-dan! Did he even get serious?"

"That goddamned AI!"

"This is as good as giving the Go world a slap to its face!"

The reason why Go was so highly praised by so many people was that it was the most complex and most challenging board game around that only humans could play. But now, a machine had suddenly appeared from nowhere and issued a challenge to all of humanity. Then, it won twice in a row against Chen Chi 9-dan and Shinji 9-dan, which subverted the mindsets of a lot of people. It also crumbled the firm beliefs of many professional Go players and amateurs. The appearance of Peter had struck a heavy blow to the international Go world!

There was news all around!

"Shinji 9-dan swept!"

"Will machines rule over humans in the near future?"

"Will intelligence no longer be just a privilege of humans?"

Some experts also claimed that this development would be a good thing. The reason they gave was that the appearance of Peter would raise the entire standard of play in the world of Go. This was because if they popularized the game through the program, every Go enthusiast would be able to play against a world-class Go "player" anytime they wanted. Xiang Rong 9-dan could not possibly be there to play with the netizens every day. Shinji 9-dan could not possibly be there to play with every Go enthusiast either. But Peter could. An AI could. This would undoubtedly train many professional Go players and raise the overall standard of play of the game.

However, the opinions of these experts were very quickly refuted by Wu Changhe, Dan Donghe, Chen Ying, and many other professional Go players!

Raise the standard of play in the world of Go?

Bullshit! This was obviously a disaster for the Go world!

If you were matched against a human player like yourself in a game, even if you lost, you would probably not mind it. You would think that you still stood a chance of winning in the next game. Even if you lost countless games, you could accept that it might be because your opponent had performed too well. However, that was a kind of performance that you could imagine and know to be within the limits of a human being. You would be able to admit that you were not better than this person, but that would not be enough to affect your love for this game. That was where the charm of games laid.

On the contrary, if your opponent was just a cold and emotionless computer playing the same game, you might lose once, twice, a thousand times, or even ten thousand times. But when you finally realize that even after you have put in every effort that you could in your entire lifetime and still not beat this opponent, that all humans would not have a chance of winning against it, then at that time, who would still want to play such a game?

If they were to really allow the machines to dominate the Go world's highest powers, it would definitely lead to a terrible ending. In the future, there would be fewer and fewer people playing this game called Go, leading to its inevitable extinction!

That was too frightening an outcome!

It was also the reason why so many of the Go world's professional players were stepping forward!

Because there was no longer a path of retreat, they had to step into battle!

…

On the same night.

The Koreans came forward!

The best player of the Korean Go world, Park Yuhee 9-dan, called for a press conference. He announced that he had accepted Peter's challenge and would battle against it in Seoul the day after tomorrow!

Park Yuhee!

Ranked second in the world of Go!

Park Yuhee's appearance once again lifted the hopes of many people!

"Go for it!"

"You must definitely win!"

"Humanity will prevail!"

"Park Yuhee will prevail!"

"Show that machine what we can do!"

"We can't lose anymore!"

"If you win, you'll become the hero of the Go world!"

"Please save the Go world!"

The Koreans were extremely confident and were all showing their support for Park Yuhee!

Park Yuhee had even pushed away two upcoming professional tournaments to focus on his preparations for the match. It could be seen just how much importance he placed on the artificial intelligence program!

The Korean media and television stations' promotions for the match that would be held two days later went into full swing. The media labeled this match as "The Battle for the Salvation of Humanity"!

But as it goes, the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment!

On the day of the first game, no one expected that it would turn out this way.

With the full attention of all of Asia, Park Yuhee committed a mistake during the middlegame in the first round of the match. As long as one was human, there would always be mistakes. Even Xiang Rong 9-dan was not an exception to that. However, Peter did not have that problem. The machine made no mistakes. Not long after moving into the middlegame, Park Yuhee was forced to resign!

The next day.

The second game.

Park Yuhee started the game in full pursuit. He dominated with a three-point advantage right from the beginning. But when they got to the middlegame, a beautiful "push through" move by Peter disrupted the opening setup of Park Yuhee's stones. Park Yuhee was left struggling and unable to turn things around from there. In the end, after adding the compensation, he actually lost by ten points!

Two to zero!

Peter was victorious again!

It was awful!

It was just too awful!

At the post-match press conference.

The American representative raised the microphone and said happily, "Peter is the most perfect and advanced version of an artificial intelligence program that we have developed. We're confident that it can defeat every human Go player around!"

When it was Park Yuhee's turn to speak, he held the microphone for a very long time while hesitating. Finally, he just said, "I'm sorry that I disappointed everyone." He then left the stage dejectedly and offered no other comments!

Everyone fell silent!

Immediately, Asia turned its attention to China.

1. 冲/Chōng/De - To push or poke through. | https://senseis.xmp.net/?PushThrough

2. 退/Tuì/hiki - Drawing back, pulling back, or retreat. | https://senseis.xmp.net/?PullingBack

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