Google let its AI loose on the internet to slaughter gamers
Compared to the sterile environment of a lab, for an artificial intelligence the internet must seem like a playground.
Key takeaways
- Google’s DeepMind division, which is arguably one of the hottest AI divisions on the planet right now, is a division on a roll.
- Challenging though is a pejorative term in this case because DeepMind, under the auspices of AlphaGo, played over fifty Go games and it won every single one of them.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2017) 'Google let its AI loose on the internet to slaughter gamers', 311 Institute, 21 February. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/googles-artificial-intelligence-went-online-and-slaughtered-gamers/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
If you ever wondered what would happen if an artificial intelligence (AI) ever got online then you're about to get your answer thanks to Google - again.
Google’s DeepMind division, which is arguably one of the hottest AI divisions on the planet right now, is a division on a roll. One minute they’re beating the world’s best Go player like he’s a newbie, transforming healthcare, and helping Google cut forty percent off their electricity bills, and the next they're teaching AI’s how to communicate in secret, dream, fight, speak, translate and a thousand other things besides. They're nothing if not busy.
However, over the years everything that DeepMind has learnt has been as a result of it playing games, mainly Atari games – it’s a hard life. Until now though all those games have been run in a lab environment behind closed doors, but that just all changed, and it turns out that the DeepMind team recently unleashed their AI onto the internet to challenge some unwitting Go players online. Challenging though is a pejorative term in this case because DeepMind, under the auspices of AlphaGo, played over fifty Go games and it won every single one of them.
“We’ve been hard at work improving AlphaGo, and over the past few days we’ve played some unofficial online games at fast time controls with our new prototype version, to check that it’s working as well as we hoped,” announced Demis Hassabis, the co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, earlier this week.
If you were one of those players and you’re still smarting from your bruising encounter with an anonymous opponent that steam rollered you, then know you know who to send the counselling bills to.
As to the reason why Google just unleashed DeepMind onto the internet, and just what new tricks they’ve got up the sleeve as a result of it, well, we’ll just have to wait and see. But in the meantime if you’re playing online and being taken to town by an unknown opponent then you might just about to be thrashed by an AI.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
Compared to the sterile environment of a lab, for an artificial intelligence the internet must seem like a playground.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
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Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 21 February 2017. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2017). Google let its AI loose on the internet to slaughter gamers. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/googles-artificial-intelligence-went-online-and-slaughtered-gamers/
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