# A Go player who learned with AlphaGo became the strongest ever

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/a-go-player-who-learned-with-alphago-became-the-strongest/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Demis Hassabis](https://realalpha.app/builders/demis-hassabis/) · Demis Hassabis is CEO of Google DeepMind.
- Host: [Alex Kantrowitz](https://realalpha.app/people/alex-kantrowitz/) · Founder, Big Technology · Former BuzzFeed News senior tech reporter and author of Always Day One.
- Show: Big Technology Podcast
- Episode: [Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis: AI's Next Breakthroughs, AGI Timeline, Google's AI Glasses Bet](https://realalpha.app/v/bgBfobN2A7A/), Jan 23, 2026
- Moment: 24:15 to 27:38 of the episode (3 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/a-go-player-who-learned-with-alphago-became-the-strongest/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/bgBfobN2A7A/?t=1455

## Quote

> “And he's by far the **strongest player there's ever been** by the ELO ratings because he's learned natively young enough.”
> — [Demis Hassabis](https://realalpha.app/builders/demis-hassabis/) at [25:05](https://realalpha.app/v/bgBfobN2A7A/?t=1505) · Big Technology Podcast

## Takeaways

1. Chess remained popular after computers surpassed top players.
2. A top Go player learned with AlphaGo knowledge in the game.
3. Hassabis says automation also raises questions about purpose and meaning.

## About this segment

Demis Hassabis points to a top Go player who learned with AlphaGo's knowledge in the game and may now surpass AlphaGo's old level. He argues human competition can adapt rather than disappear.

From “Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis: AI's Next Breakthroughs, AGI Timeline, Google's AI Glasses Bet”, Jan 23, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/bgBfobN2A7A/)

## Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

[24:20](https://realalpha.app/v/bgBfobN2A7A/?t=1460) But I want to ask about this. You know, we're going to have the same situation with knowledge work. that these models that performed admirably against the world's best StarCraft and Go players are now starting to do our work. And are we going to end up in the same position? Well, look, given you brought up games as an example, let's look at what's happened in games. So chess, we've had chess computers that are better since I was a teenager than Garry Kasparov in the 90s, right?

[24:47](https://realalpha.app/v/bgBfobN2A7A/?t=1487) They weren't general AI systems, but they were deep blue. Chess is more popular than ever. No one's interested in seeing computers playing computers. We're interested in Magnus Carlsen playing, you know, the top, the other top chess players in the world. Interestingly in Go, the best South Go player in the world is a South Korean. And he was about 15, I think, when AlphaGo match happened. He's in his mid-20s now.

[25:09](https://realalpha.app/v/bgBfobN2A7A/?t=1509) And he's by far the strongest player there's ever been by the ELO ratings because he's learned natively young enough. He was, you know, he's the first generation, you could say, that's learned with AlphaGo knowledge in the knowledge pool. and um you know he may actually be stronger than alpha go was back then so i think and we all still enjoy starcraft and all the other all the other computer games we enjoy human endeavor i think it's a bit more a bit similar to like we still love the 100 meters uh olympic race um even though we have vehicles that can go way faster than usain bolt but you know we we don't you know that's that's different thing right and so i think we have infinite capacity to adapt and um and uh and and sort of evolve uh with our technologies because why is that because we have we are general

[25:59](https://realalpha.app/v/bgBfobN2A7A/?t=1559) intelligences um that's the thing about it is we are agi systems we are obviously we're not artificial we're general systems and it's and and we are capable of inventing science and uh we're tool making uh animals that's what separates us humans from from the other animals is we're able to make tools all around modern civilization including computers and of course ai being the ultimate expression of computers that all has come from our human minds which were evolved for you know hunter-gathering lifestyle so it's kind of amazing we were able and it shows how general we are that we're able to get to the modern civilization we see around us today and we're talking about things like ai and you know science and physics and all these things right and i think we'll adapt again but there is an important question actually beyond the economics one about

[26:45](https://realalpha.app/v/bgBfobN2A7A/?t=1605) jobs and those things is purpose and meaning because we all get a lot of our purpose and meaning from the jobs we do i certainly do from the science i do so how does what happens when a lot of that is automated um i think you know that that's why i've been calling for you know i think we knew new great philosophers actually and it will be a change to the human condition but i don't think it necessarily has to be worse i think we've it's like the industrial revolution maybe 10x of that but we'll have to adapt again and i think we'll find new um uh meaning and things and we do a lot of things already today that are not just for economic gain you know art extreme sports ex-polar exploration many of these things um and maybe we'll have much more sophisticated esoteric versions of those things in the future. Okay, two minutes left. I have two questions. I don't