173. The art of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) War (碁#19) - Artificial Intelligence

Nineteen by nineteen is the grid. Followed by 361 points of connection. After being told yet again how great and powerful artificial intelligence is at winning over human competition, I have been tempted to give up the game. But the thing is, for me the game of Go or Weiqi is more than just a game. It is a multidimensional window into the workings of the human mind. And more specifically my opponent's mind. Artificial intelligence can only learn, adapt and mould its response to changing circumstances. It cannot by itself create a new reality out of its environment. And must adhere to whatever programming its creators put into it. In short, artificial intelligence is an illusion. The Go master is tricked beforehand into believing it is real. Yes, it is real in a tangible mechanical way. But it is not real in the way the mind is real. The illusionary trick is the insurance policy enacted by the programmers masking the fact that it is the programmers playing the game of Go against the master. And it is not just one programmer, but a group of programmers working in concert to take the master down. In other words: Defeat by Committee. Had it been one Go board per programmer, the situation would favour the master. But by going through a computer program, the rules are circumvented, in that the master is facing all the programmers simultaneously in that one move. Nor does the master know how many programmers are involved. The variable probabilities are just mind-blowing. It's the mental equivalent of being thrown into a ring with half a dozen fighters, who all attack you at the same time. Good luck in surviving that one. In the end the Go master is defeated through slow mental exhaustion. Death by a thousand little cuts. The prey taken down by a pack of hyenas ⚔️圍棋戰聖