“A tool for exploring deeper” — Redux

In his absorbing book, The Creativity Code, University of Oxford professor Marcus Du Sautoy describes his experience watching the international GO championships. Recalling that experience professor Du Sautoy writes;

“Ke Jie’s compatriot Gu Li, winner of the most Go world titles said, ‘Together, humans and AI will soon uncover the deeper mysteries of Go’. For Demis Hassabis, the algorithm is like the Hubble telescope of Go. This illustrates the way many view this new AI. It is a tool for exploring deeper, further, wider than ever before. It is not meant to replace human creativity but to augment it.”

Hassabis and his team at DeepMind created AlphaGo, a software application that defeated Lee Sedol, one of the world’s best Go players, but for me the more exciting achievement is the opportunities the work of the DeepMind team presents for all mankind.

As a software consultant I would always encourage my clients to use information technology to “support” people, rather than be a “substitute” for people. A great deal of what human beings do requires large amouts of creativity and problem solving. Think of an astronaut in a completely foreign environment in which processes that are generally accepted on Earth fail to behave as expected. What is the astronaut to do when he presses a “red” button expecting his motion to stop but instead…