The decisive move in the fourth game against artificial intelligence (AI) AlphaGo in 2016 was the 68th move. It was a move that aimed at an AlphaGo bug, one I would never have played if the opponent had been a person. To win a single game, I made a move that went against the philosophy of my 30-year life in Go. I believe it was the most human choice.
Lee Sedol, a former professional Go player known as "the only person who beat AlphaGo" and a distinguished professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), took the stage as the first speaker at ChosunBiz's "Biz Morning Insight (BMI)" on the 15th at the Westin Josun Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul, and emphasized the importance of human qualities in the AI era.
In a lecture titled "Ten years since the AlphaGo match, a new era, new thinking," Lee said, "Before the match with AlphaGo, I thought AI was something that inspired technological progress, but it has become hard to say that," adding, "The tide of the times has shifted. Now it is an era when even Go is studied with AI. Not only Go but other fields as well have entered a time when you cannot talk about them without AI."
Lee said that to live in the AI era, human aspects such as individuality, emotion, and story will become more important. Lee said, "At age 12, I first met China's Gu Li, a 9-dan, and we played a ten-game match (a format in which the result is decided over 10 games)," adding, "Gu Li, 9-dan, was the first peer I played a series with, and we are personally close. Our matches unfolded through this kind of narrative, but AI has no such story."
Lee went on to say, "No matter how impressive a picture AI draws or music it composes, we do not assign it tremendous meaning. That is because AI lacks narratives such as individuality, emotion, and story."
With the advent of the AI era, Lee projected that competitiveness will differ across all industries depending on how much they use AI, not just in Go. Lee said, "Since AI appeared, many people feel their work efficiency has improved by 30% to 50%, but the few who use AI properly are achieving results of 300% to 500% or more," adding, "The scariest thing about the AI era is that the gap is widening at a pace so fast you cannot keep up. We need to prepare for that."
In particular, Lee assessed that the impact will be greater on ordinary people rather than the top class in each field. Lee said, "The top class in each field will continue to be rewarded," but added, "The problem is the many people in the middle. AI exerts powerful strength in situations where the rules are clear and limited. If you cannot use AI properly, you will be heavily affected."
So how can we use AI well? Lee said, "We must break out of fixed ideas," and cited the 2017 matches of AlphaGo Master. Lee said, "When you learn Go, you are taught not to play early moves on the third line. Even as a professional, because we learned that from a young age, we cannot play those moves," adding, "But AlphaGo Master played them without hesitation. Because AI has virtually no fixed ideas, it could play such moves. The reason we must collaborate with AI is also to break out of fixed ideas."
He also advised that we should learn how to use AI through "shallow and broad knowledge." Lee said, "We need to reappraise shallow and broad knowledge. Until now, being superficially informed carried a negative assessment," adding, "But now it is different. If you dig into only one field, your ability to use AI becomes limited." Lee added, "Even without expert knowledge, those who know widely and broadly will create new businesses."
He especially emphasized the importance of review (復棋), or organizing one's own thinking. Lee said, "The more information overflows, the more unorganized knowledge only breeds confusion," adding, "You need time alone to organize this information and make it your own."