AlphaGo

AlphaGo examines how a team of computer scientists created an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of playing the board game Go, and how it fared against human opponents. The goal of the development team was to create an algorithm that could defeat a human champion. Because Go has far more possible variations than chess, rather than teaching the game to the computer through human expertise, the programmers designed it to teach itself.

Once operational, the AI algorithm defeated an American Go champion. However, it was not taken seriously by Go enthusiasts in Asia, who believed it had not yet faced the world’s strongest human player. As a result, a match was arranged between the algorithm and arguably the greatest Go player in the world, South Korean master Lee Sedol. Much of the film centres on this dramatic showdown between machine and man. The algorithm ultimately defeated Sedol, a landmark achievement that has been hailed as being a decade ahead of its time.