What can an AI game teach about humanity?
We will hold a free virtual screening of the film “AlphaGo” between November 19-21, and an asynchronous online forum discussion on the film between November 17-23. This event was planned by May Carlon, a Tokyo Tech graduate, and will be held with co-sponsorship by ToTAL. The film can be viewed anytime between the viewing period.
On March 9 2016, the worlds of Go and artificial intelligence collided in South Korea for an extraordinary best-of-five-game competition, coined The Google DeepMind Challenge Match. Hundreds of millions of people around the world watched as a legendary Go master took on an unproven AI challenger for the first time in history. The film “AlphaGo” is a record of that legendary match. As the drama unfolds, more questions emerge: What can artificial intelligence reveal about a 3000-year-old game? What can it teach us about humanity? (Please see the trailer below for reference.)
Participants are free to join the asynchronous online discussion, where they can text questions and opinions on the film, and respond to comments of others.
■Dates:
-Virtual screening of the film “AlphaGo” (free of charge, approximately 90min.) *In English.
Dates: Friday, November 19, 2021 – Sunday, November 21, 2021 (JST)
*The film can be viewed anytime between the period above.
-Asynchronous online discussion (free of charge, may join anytime during the following period)
Dates: Wednesday, November 17, 2021 – Tuesday, November 23, 2021 (JST)
■Apply here: https://forms.gle/rS5JazpmZFa5H6DC9
※Details will be sent to participants later.
■Eligilibity: Tokyo Tech students, faculty and staff
■Reference: AlphaGo trailer
■Film Synopsis:
With more board configurations than there are atoms in the universe, the ancient Chinese game of ‘Go’ has long been considered a grand challenge for artificial intelligence.
On March 9 2016, the worlds of Go and artificial intelligence collided in South Korea for an extraordinary best-of-five-game competition, coined The Google DeepMind Challenge Match. Hundreds of
millions of people around the world watched as a legendary Go master took on an unproven AI challenger for the first time in history.
Directed by Greg Kohs with an original score by Academy Award nominee, Hauschka, AlphaGo chronicles a journey from the halls of Oxford, through the backstreets of Bordeaux, past the coding terminals of DeepMind in London, and, ultimately, to the seven-day tournament in Seoul. As the drama unfolds, more questions emerge: What can artificial intelligence reveal about a 3000-year-old game? What can it teach us about humanity?
■Director’s statement:
Early in my career I worked at NFL Films. That experience, of being able to see the drama on the field while having access to the people and stories unfolding off the field, has always been a fascinating intersection for me. In my recent film, The Great Alone, I was able to explore the epic scale of the Iditarod through the comeback story of a single competitor. In AlphaGo, the competition between man and machine provided a similar backdrop, albeit with far larger consequences.
The complexity of the game of Go, combined with the technical depth of an emerging technology like artificial intelligence seemed like it might create an insurmountable barrier for a film like this. The fact that I was so innocently unaware of Go and AlphaGo actually proved to be beneficial. It allowed me to approach the action and interviews with pure curiosity, the kind that helps make any subject matter emotionally accessible.
Unlike the film’s human characters – who turn their curious quest for knowledge into an epic spectacle with great existential implications, who dare to risk their reputation and pride to contest that curiosity – AI might not yet possess the ability to empathize. But it can teach us profound things about our humanness – the way we play board games, the way we think and feel and grow. It’s a deep, vast premise, but my hope is, by sharing it, we can discover something within ourselves we never saw before.
– Greg Kohs, Director
■Event flyer: AlphaGo.pdf
■About Ms. May Carlon
Tokyo Tech graduate (Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering, Tokyo Tech)
May is a Filipino graduate of Tokyo Tech who studied at Cross Lab, School of Environment and Society. Her research interest is in using AI technologies in improving online learning experiences.
