back in 1997, one of the greatest artificial intelligence feats took place. a computer beat a human (one of the greatest players of our time, garry kasparov) at the game of chess. that day was a leap forward for computers and they have undoubtedly excelled since. since then, things have only gotten simpler with faster processing power and greater advances in artificial intelligence. who knows, one day we may even reach the level of HAL 9000.

The Economist has a great article this week on A.I., describing how, when it comes to Othello and backgammon, computers now have the upper hand. Today they are creeping up on all board games, Scrabble, poker and bridge will be theirs, as well soon enough. The only tough challenge remaining? Go.

Go was invented more than 2,500 years ago in China (Confucius considered it a waste of time). It is a strategic contest in which two players take turns to place stones on the intersections of a grid with 19 lines on each side. Each player tries to stake out territory and surround his opponent. The rules are simple but the play is extraordinarily complex. During a game, some stones will “die”, and some will appear to be dead but spring back to life at an inopportune moment. It is often difficult to say who is winning right until the end.

Check out the article for the rest of the scoop on how computer scientists are using new algorithms that “teach” the computer to play a large number of random games and make educated moves based in the outcome so that in the very near future, even Go will be gone.