Taiwan’s Aja Huang (黃士傑) is one of the key developers behind AlphaGo, the artificial intelligence (AI) program developed by Google’s DeepMind unit that on Thursday secured a second win against go world champion Lee Sedol in Seoul.
Huang, who obtained sixth-dan ranking as an amateur go player in 2007, sat opposite Lee during the first two matches, placing the counters on behalf of AlphaGo.
Professor Lin Shun-hsi (林順喜) at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) said Huang completed his doctorate in computer engineering inside five years, but extended the course by two years to develop software known as “Erica.”
Photo courtesy of National Taiwan Normal University professor Lin Shun-hsi
Huang chose go as his primary subject the moment he enrolled in the program, Lin said, adding that his initial programs lost against low-level go players.
The culmination of nearly a decade of effort was the software Erica, which defeated the then-champion program “Zen” and won a gold at the Computer Olympiad.
Huang was also the founding member of the go club at NTNU, Lin said.
Huang was in constant contact with many first-rate programmers abroad and he used that to his advantage, Lin said, adding that Huang could often be found making video calls to the experts to discuss crucial programming techniques if he was having problems.
Huang obtained a job as a research assistant in Canada and went on to work at English company DeepMind in 2012, Lin said, adding that Huang and David Silver were the head programmers at the company.
Lin said he is happy that Huang never gave up his explorations of AI programming for the game go.
“Huang is living proof that NTNU should not just be known as a university that produces educators,” Lin said.
The next match between Lee and AlphaGo is scheduled for today, with a total of five matches to be played by Tuesday next week. The winner is to receive a prize of US$1 million (NT$32,95 million).
Lee, a South Korean who holds 18 world titles, said he was “speechless” after losing a match for a second consecutive day on Thursday.
Lee said AlphaGo played a near-perfect game on Thursday and admitted that he did not feel he was leading at any point during the game.
AlphaGo generated widespread attention when an article published in the journal Nature explained how DeepMind had succeeded in producing an AI program that had mastered go and had achieved a 99.8 percent success rate against other AI programs.
Additional reporting by CNA
The donation of offshore patrol vessel Kinmen to the Philippines includes provisions that protect Taiwanese fishers and facilitate security cooperation across the First Island Chain, officials said yesterday. The comment was made during the Cabinet’s comprehensive administrative report at the legislature after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) expressed concerns about the decision to give a ship to a country whose coast guard had in 2013 fired on a Taiwanese trawler and killed its captain without provocation. The Cabinet should lay out the safeguards that have been established to prevent the Philippine government from using the Kinmen to harass, expel
GROWING TIES: The CGA is planning a goodwill mission to the Philippines, in what would be the first time since 1975 a Taiwanese paramilitary vessel has visited the country The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) plans to significantly expand its participation in international security cooperative frameworks and its operational capabilities, a budget proposal for next year showed. The budget indicates a transformation of the CGA from a maritime law enforcement arm into a national defense and intelligence gathering entity capable of tackling larger regional security matters. The proposal showed that personnel from the coast guard’s Intelligence Division and Special Action Support Center are to participate in high-level national security talks with the US. As the CGA has dealt with China’s rising “gray zone” threats around Taiwan, it has become a valuable asset to
The National Police Agency’s Third Special Police Corps yesterday said that from May to July, it intercepted five smuggling operations from China, seizing more than 70,000 counterfeit Beyblades with an estimated infringement value of NT$34.45 million (US$1.08 million). It added that any bootleg unit that reached the local market could present hidden health hazards to players. Beyblades, a line of spinning toy tops used in competitive gaming and developed in Japan by toy company Takara Tomy, have become popular in Taiwan, making them a target for fraudsters. The Third Special Police Corps, dedicated to safeguarding maritime borders and trade lines,
Five customers who made purchases at 7-Eleven stores across Taiwan won the top NT$10 million (US$313,716) special prize in the July-August uniform invoice lottery, including one who spent just NT$27 on photocopying, the convenience store chain said today. The five special prize winners made their purchases at stores in Taoyuan, Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung, 7-Eleven operator President Chain Store Corp said. The five winning purchases included NT$29 spent on snacks at a store in Taoyuan's Zhongli District (中壢), NT$27 on photocopying at a store in Taipei's Zhongzheng District (中正), NT$139 on City Cafe coffee and daily necessities at a store in Taipei's
RSS