Ever rewatched a classic movie from your youth only to find it… different? Not worse, necessarily, but somehow smaller, less groundbreaking than you remembered? It’s a bit like that with technology, isn’t it? What was once cutting-edge can feel almost quaint just a few years later.
This exact sentiment popped up recently on Reddit, where a user shared their experience rewatching the documentary AlphaGo. They first saw it as a young man, captivated by its groundbreaking portrayal of AI. Now, as a middle-aged man, it struck them as “a little quaint.” Ouch! But also… relatable.
For those who might have missed the memo (or were busy living under a rock, no judgment!), AlphaGo was DeepMind’s AI program that famously beat the world champion Go player, Lee Sedol, in 2016. It wasn’t just a win; it was a watershed moment. Go, with its infinite possibilities, was considered the ultimate bastion of human intuition against machine logic. AlphaGo shattered that.
So, why “quaint”? Think about it. Back then, the idea of an AI learning to play Go, not just being programmed with rules, felt like science fiction stepping into reality. Today? We’re chatting with AIs that write poetry, generate images, code entire applications, and even simulate complex scientific phenomena. ChatGPT, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion – these weren’t even whispers in 2016. The speed of AI’s advancement has been less of a steady climb and more of a vertical rocket launch.
It’s like watching the first iPhone commercial today. Remember how mind-blowing it was to have a touchscreen and internet in your pocket? Now, if your phone doesn’t practically read your mind and make coffee, you’re like, “Ugh, so last decade.” Our expectations have just gone through the roof.
What Will Future “Humans” Think?
The Reddit user also posed a fascinating question: “I wonder how future ‘humans’ (homo-????) will view AlphaGo.” This is where it gets really trippy. Will they see it as the primordial ooze of true artificial general intelligence (AGI)? Or perhaps a charming, rudimentary ancestor of whatever hyper-intelligent, self-aware entities populate their world? Will they even be “human” as we understand it? Homo sapiens might just be a quaint term itself!
Despite the rapid evolution, one thing remains certain: AlphaGo isn’t just a footnote. It was a seismic event, a clear marker in time that signaled a new era for AI. It showed us not just what machines could do, but what they could learn to do, fundamentally shifting our understanding of intelligence.
The Reddit user nailed it: “Whatever happens, I reckon it will go down as a cross-generational classic.” AlphaGo might feel a little quaint today, but its impact is anything but. It’s a foundational story, a technological epic that laid the groundwork for the AI-powered world we’re scrambling to keep up with. So, next time you’re marveling at a generative AI, spare a thought for AlphaGo – the granddaddy that showed us what was possible, even if it now wears a charmingly retro sweater.