In AlphaGo's world, emotions can be a piece of information that can be grasped through rigorous computing

Lee Se-dol, the Go grandmaster, lost his best-of-five match with AlphaGo, the artificial intelligence program developed by Google, in Seoul recently. The South Korean was supposed to represent not only himself, but also the human race, so he understands the meaning of this defeat.

I carefully reviewed the first game twice and was shocked by AlphaGo's exquisite algorithm, efficient computing power and its "personality" as a Go player. Despite being driven by AI, AlphaGo had a transcendental view of the big picture and an ability to identify its opponent's weaknesses. It quickly made up for two mistakes and was merciless in its attack on the "impregnable" zone Lee had created. After taking the lead, AlphaGo's movements were unhurried, but continued to pressure Lee.

People who don't know about Go may not understand why the match was so important. Go is an old strategic board game, the result of which is decided not just by ingenious calculations, but also by the players' personalities, moods and feelings. From a Go player's manual, you can walk into his or her personal world.

The view before the game was that, given the complications of Go, it was impossible for an AI program to beat a human. That has changed.

In a game between astute players, personal emotions can be a decisive factor. AlphaGo's coolness lies in its indifference; instead of testing the human characteristics of his rival, it demonstrated pure and conquering rationality.

In other words, in AlphaGo's world, emotions can be a piece of information that can be grasped through rigorous computing. The fear is, if AI develops to such a level, human nature could become a redundant program in a perfect world that could be deleted with just one click of a mouse. Doesn't The Matrix present this exact scenario?

It may be too emotional to jump to the conclusion that AI will eventually enslave humans based on a couple of Go games. Yet AlphaGo's victory shows AI is progressing fast toward some forbidden zones in which humans have long taken pride.

The question is, what else can AI do? Who can predict what changes it will bring to the human world? And to what extent can intelligence created by humans expand?

When British mathematician Alan Turing, the father of artificial intelligence, devised his Turing test in the 1950s, computers were huge machines. Now, who would dare to call AlphaGo a simple machine?

I would rather take the discovery of gravitational waves and AlphaGo's victory as an inter-related omen to say humans are on the threshold of a new round of explosions in science and technology. The breakthrough in AI may trigger a chain reaction in many fields, and promote the exponential growth of science and technology. Many scenarios that appeared only in science fiction before could become reality. Such a prospect is excitingly fearful.

No doubt the intelligence created by humans will have its own thoughts and strengths in the future. But will it have emotions or something beyond? If so, how should we define human nature and ethics?

One day, your AlphaGo butler serves you breakfast when you wake up to a sunny morning. It could even arrange you a date. It could arrange for a spotless life while you are still in the dark. What is it? A nightmare!

There may be hope, however, Lee managed to beat AlphaGo in a consolation game in round four.

The author is a senior writer for Beijing Youth Daily. The article was first published on the newspaper's WeChat account. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.