Slashdot Mirror
Computer Defeats Human At Japanese Chess
Calopteryx writes "A computer has beaten a human at shogi, otherwise known as Japanese chess, for the first time. As New Scientist reports, computers have beaten humans at western chess before, but that game is relatively simple, with only about 10^123 possible games existing that can be played out. Shogi is a *bit* more complex, offering about 10^224 possible games."
I spent a summer once working for a professor who has spent his life trying to develop an AI for Go!
In particular I was compressing read-only hash tables of end states. He was basing his approach on the work of someone who had developed AI for checkers but I think it's obvious that Go is a little bit bigger problem.
(To be specific: http://lie.math.brocku.ca/twolf/home/publications.html#3)
Actually, I used to routinely thrash the top level in typical Checkers programs. Shogi is interesting because if you can hold your own enough to start capturing pieces, you can become a huge nuisance. Every piece you capture can be played back on the board on your side on any turn; this makes Shogi a little complicated for a computer, since suddenly you have no checkmate on the board but there's 10 ways I can play a Horse or Rook and trap you in a checkmate.
Support my political activism on Patreon.
If you bother to read the article:
"IBM say they have improved artificial intelligence enough that Watson will be able to challenge Jeopardy champions, and they'll put their boast to the test soon, says The New York Times. "
Do you realize what this means? Ken Jennings versus robots. They could make an entire new show out of this and I'd watch it religiously.