Human vs. Computer Go: Review and Prospect

The Google DeepMind challenge match in March 2016 was a historic achievement for computer Go development. This article discusses the development of computational intelligence (CI) and its relative strength in comparison with human intelligence for the game of Go. We first summarize the milestones achieved for computer Go from 1998 to 2016. Then, the computer Go programs that have participated in previous IEEE CIS competitions as well as methods and techniques used in AlphaGo are briefly introduced. Commentaries from three high-level professional Go players on the five AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol games are also included. We conclude that AlphaGo beating Lee Sedol is a huge achievement in AI based largely on CI methods. In the future, powerful computer Go programs such as AlphaGo are expected to be instrumental in promoting Go education and AI real-world applications.