Humanity's best Go player finally beat Google's DeepMind computer for the first time

Google

Go world champion Lee Sedol.

Google DeepMind's AI was beaten by Go world champion Lee Sedol on Sunday in the fourth game of the Challenge Series tournament. That's the first time that Sedol has managed to beat the computer.

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis tweeted that Sedol "was too good for us today and pressured #AlphaGo into a mistake that it couldn't recover from."

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

Although this is a big win for Sedol that proves DeepMind's computer can be beaten, Sedol still can't win the tournament. This is game four of a five-game series, and DeepMind won the previous three games.

Throughout the tournament DeepMind's computer has made unusual moves that a human player typically wouldn't consider. Some commentators have wondered whether they are mistakes, but usually they've just been unusual moves.

However, The Verge reports that the AlphaGo program made one unusual move in turn 79 of this game. Hassabis tweeted that the move was a genuine mistake, rather than a rare move:

This won't be the end of the tournament - there's still one game left to play on Tuesday.