"AI can show you a good move, but turning that answer into your own is ultimately a human task."
As artificial intelligence rapidly expands into areas once considered uniquely human, two of South Korea’s best-known Go players said the skills that will matter most are the ability to ask the right questions and to make independent judgments.
Lee Sedol, a distinguished professor at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, and Lee Chang-ho, a top Go titleholder known for his calm style, spoke May 6 at UNIST in Ulsan during a talk concert titled “UNIST Open Stage 1” and at a briefing beforehand.
They said AI should not be treated as a simple “answer machine.” Lee Sedol pointed to AlphaGo Zero and said that in an era when AI can evolve beyond human data, cooperation matters as much as use. He said watching AI play moves once taught as taboo made him realize how much people can be trapped by education and convention, adding that those who grasp AI’s message will move ahead.
Lee Chang-ho said he initially struggled to accept AI’s unconventional moves, but later saw many as strong ideas that break fixed thinking. Still, he warned against blind trust, saying people should think deeply on their own and ask for help only when they truly need it. He said real synergy comes when a person has established a personal style and then uses AI support.
Lee Sedol also described the personal strain AI brought to professional Go. He said studying with AI was so difficult it contributed to his decision to retire earlier, and that thinking about what younger players face weighs on him.
Looking back on his 2016 match against AlphaGo, he said he would accept the challenge again but would prepare more thoroughly, adding that he regretted brushing aside expert advice at the time. He also said he was careless after winning Game 4 when he told Demis Hassabis that AI did not seem able to beat humans. Lee said it was a shameful answer to a question that could bring enormous change.
On broader social impact, Lee Sedol said the loss of existing jobs during the transition is unavoidable, but that distinctly human value will rise. He said society should guard against a dystopia in which people lose control of their thinking or AI technology is monopolized by a small group in power.
Lee Chang-ho said the AI era could make fundamentals even more important. He said a strong base — including humanities literacy and reading — would help people protect themselves from AI-related risks.
In the talk that followed, both men framed AI not as a simple matter of winning and losing but as a matter of interpretation. They said that as AI produces more correct answers, what matters is not the answer itself but the ability to understand it and connect it to one’s own judgment.
Lee Sedol said what matters more than AI’s strength is what new questions people can ask after seeing its answers, adding that judgment is needed to make choices in unfamiliar situations. Lee Chang-ho said seeing the right answer and understanding the path to it are different, and that even if AI suggests a good move, making it one’s own remains a human responsibility.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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