Re: [computer-go] Computer Go tournament at EGF

[Richard Brown <rbrown@xxxxxxxx>]

David G Doshay wrote:

> It seems from the set of replies that computer Go wishes to retain
> what I see an an artificial but generally accepted limitation of one
> hour per program, with possible exceptions in some tournaments
> which allow for byo-yomi. I see the point of the convenience factor
> and have no choice but to either comply or not attend, but I do not
> think it is a good thing for the evolution of computer Go.
Just to add another data point, I have to agree with David.

> It looks to me like people are asking "what is the best blitz Go
> program" rather than "what is the best Go program." That is
> OK too, just a little different.
I guess it depends on what the goals are.

Suppose that someone were to write a go-playing program that could
not only play go, but could play in the _style_ of a given pro or
historical personage.  Would it matter if it took five, ten or even
fifteen minutes to come up with each move?  Or would such a beast be
valuable, in spite of its taking that long to decide where to play?

Before you scoff and say "That's impossible!" note that there are
already programs which have used machine learning to discover the
_style_ of musical composition of a particular composer, and these
programs routinely can compose music in the style of Mozart or Bach.

Whether this sort of thing can be done for go remains to be seen, of
course, but if it can be done, and you could watch a match between,
say Shusaku and Dosaku (being channelled by the computer program),
would you mind if the game took two days to complete?

How about if you could play against this "Shusaku" yourself?

Would you become impatient, waiting for the master to play?

"Oh, this computer program takes too long to make up its mind."

Me, I would not mind that such a program were "slow".

Selecting what features of go-behavior to represent and emulate
is the key, but my confidence that such a program can be written
grows by leaps and bounds every day.

Stay tuned.

--
Rich







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