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
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS