How did the chess champion fight against machine intelligence more than 30 years ago?

Garry Kasparov, the legendary chess world champion, wrote many books, mainly about chess. Last May, he wrote a book about machine intelligence and human creativity, Deep Thinking. More and more experts are beginning to realize that after the cognitive revolution, agricultural revolution and industrial revolution, species are facing a new and even more significant change, which is brought by artificial intelligence.

Is the former chess world champion qualified to publish books on this subject? Of course. Last year, at TED20 17, he talked about the competition with IBM Deep Blue Computer 20 years ago, and the loss of the world champion to the machine became a landmark event. Chess is the first and most striking intellectual field where human beings collide with machine intelligence, and it is an example we face in countless other fields. Scientists of artificial intelligence have well studied the development of chess intelligence in artificial systems and used this example to infer that other areas of human activities are experiencing similar challenges.

Garry Kasparov is at the forefront of artificial intelligence chess experiment. In this book, he vividly described his first contact with machines. The following is an excerpt:

I (Garry Kasparov) had a computer at 1983, but I didn't play chess with them at that time. Acorn, a British computer company, sponsored my competition with Victor Korcz Noy in London. Businesses, amateurs and other early users all over Europe are paying a lot of money for the first generation of home computers. I won the competition, which gave me the opportunity to compete with Anatoly karpov for the first time in the following year. I also got an acorn home computer.

For me, a person from the Soviet Union, owning a computer seems a bit like science fiction. First of all, I have devoted my life to chess and have little time to do other things. Secondly, the Soviet Union was still a computer desert outside scientific research institutions. Stephen Gary Wozniak designed Apple II in 1977, but it was not until 1983 that a clone AGAT appeared in the Soviet Union, and then slowly began to appear in schools all over the country, but it was too expensive for most ordinary citizens, about 20 times the average monthly salary of the Soviet Union. Just like most fake technologies in the Soviet Union, they are really not so good compared with computers that have been available for six years. American Byte magazine wrote in 1984 that AGAT has no chance in today's international market.

At that time, the personal computer revolution was in full swing in America. Those things are expensive, but they are easy to get for the middle class. The very popular Commodore 64 was released in August 1982, and the standard IBM PC XT came out in early 1983. By the end of 1984, more than 8% American families had computers. In contrast, when I landed in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, with the acorn I won in the competition, the number of personal computers in this place with a population of more than 6.5438+0 million was finally zero.

What I want to say is that the first time I came into contact with a computer was a moment of change, but I was a little busy at that time. My cousins and friends often play video games with my eight acorns. One of them has changed my understanding of computers and life in particular, but this is not a chess game, but a small moving green frog (part two).

1985 one day, I received a package from a stranger. His name is Frederic Friedel, a chess enthusiast and popular science writer in Hamburg, Germany. He sent me a beautiful note and a floppy disk, which contained several computer games, including my favorite Hopper. I admit that in the next few weeks, I spent most of my free time playing Hopper and set a higher and higher record.

A few months later, I went to Hamburg to participate in several activities, including computer simulation, visited Frederick's home in the suburbs, and met his wife and two young sons, Martin, 10, and Tommy, 3. Frederick can't wait to show me the latest development of his own computer. I completely mastered one of the many small games he gave me.

I said, you know, I'd better play Hopper in Baku, and I didn't mention that there is no one competing with me in Baku. I have got 16000 points, but this amazing number didn't surprise him.

Frederick just said, this is good, but this is not a score.

What? Can you beat me?

No, not me.

Ah, well, Martin must be an expert in video games.

No, not Martin.

When I realized the smile on Frederick's face and that the strongest Hopper in this family was only a three-year-old child, of course I doubted it. You can't say Tommy!

My fears have been confirmed. When Frederick brought the little boy to the computer and sat him next to us, the game began. Because I was a guest, they let me go first, and I achieved a personal best of 19,000 points.

My success is short-lived. Tommy's fingers moved fast and blurred, and soon they reached 30 thousand.

It is much easier to lose to a little boy in Hope than to lose to karpov in chess, which gives me a chance to think. How will my country compete with the generation of computer geniuses who grew up in the west? I am one of the few people with computers in major cities in the Soviet Union, but I was easily surpassed by a German child.

So when I signed a sponsorship agreement with a computer company in Atari at 1986, I chose more than 50 of their latest machines in return and set up the first youth computer club in Moscow. I continue to provide hardware and software for the club, which has become the center of many talented scientists and amateurs.

They often give me a list of the equipment they want. When I come back, it's like Santa Claus gave me a gift. With the chess fans who welcome me home, computer experts hope I can find the items on their wish list. I even remember being called at the airport. Today is enough to attract the attention of the security department. They shouted, Gary! Did you bring Winchester back? ! This is the hard drive that I dreamed of at that time.

Frederick and I also talked about the potential influence of computers on professional chess. Enterprises are rapidly adopting personal computers to handle spreadsheets, word processing and databases, so why not do it in chess? This will be a powerful weapon, and it is also the last thing I can bear.

As mentioned above, our conversation led to the first version of Chessbase, which quickly became synonymous with professional chess software. 1987 65438+1October, I tried an early version of the scheme and prepared to do a special exhibition while dealing with strong teams. I almost lost a similar game at 1985, playing against 8 members of a professional German league. I am tired and overconfident, especially because I don't know most of my opponents and I can't get ready soon.

In this game, I found that ChessBase will change the professional chess game and my life. Using Atari ST and Chessbase disks marked 0000 1 given to me by Frederic and Matthias, I can lift and check my opponent's last game without using a computer. With only two days to prepare, I felt relaxed and beat my opponent 7-/kloc-0. At that time, I knew I would spend a lot of time in front of the computer to spend my career, but I didn't realize how much time I would spend dealing with them.

A few years later, when an interviewer and photographer came to my residence, it was enough to show how fast computers ruled chess. The photographer wants some pictures of me on the chessboard to tell a story. The only problem is that I don't have a board. All the preparations were done on my laptop, and Compaq really expanded the definition of portability. Even if it weighs 12 Jin, it is easier and more efficient than carrying a paper notebook and a bunch of encyclopedias. These advantages will accumulate when the internet makes it possible to download the latest games as soon as possible, instead of waiting weeks or months for them to be published in magazines.

Soon, almost all the masters took laptops to participate in every competition, although there was an uneven generation gap in this respect. Many old players think they are too complicated and unfamiliar, especially after their traditional training and preparation methods have been successful for decades. Laptops are also expensive, and few flag bearers have the advantages of sponsorship agreements and world champion bonuses like me.

The changes that computers and databases have brought to chess just explain how new technologies have been adopted by the whole industry and society. When I was in my twenties, the wave of digital information swept the chess world, which was a gradual process. Playing games on the screen is more efficient than printing materials, which is a real competitive advantage. A few years later, the influence of the Internet was equally great, which greatly accelerated the information war between people. Chess players can no longer expect to confuse their opponents with clever traps.

Causality can't be verified, but I'm sure that during the period from 1989 to 1995 when ChessBase became the standard, the rapid decline of many old players had a lot to do with their inability to adapt to the new technology. 1990, more than 20 active players born before 1950 are among the top 100 players in the world, and only 7 players are born before 1995. Another exception is my great competitor karpov, who was born in 195 1. Although he didn't want to accept computers and the Internet, he remained around 50 when he was in his fifties. He is very talented and experienced. As a former world champion, he also has many resources. Relying on the help of his colleagues for research is an advantage for a few people.

Although the computer may shorten the career of some old players, it also makes young players grow faster. Even I was surprised to watch the children jump from one game to another in the blink of an eye and analyze one game after another. With the development of my career, I not only have to face the challenge of every champion, but also resist the challenge of the next generation of players. I also have some complicated tools in the growth process of this generation, which did not exist when I was a child. I happened to catch up with this wave when I was born, and this opportunity also put me in the front line against the increasingly powerful new enemy.