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In 1997, Garry Kasparov, widely regarded as the world's greatest chess player, was defeated by a computer. But how much did that reveal about the 'brainpower' of machines?

In 1997, Garry Kasparov, widely regarded as the world's greatest chess player, was defeated by Deep Blue, a computer. But how much did that reveal about the 'brainpower' of machines? Tim Harford explains by delving into the history of algorithms. They've been used by mathematicians and scientists for millennia, but have acquired a new level of power and importance in the digital age.

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10 minutes

Last on

Mon 24 Feb 2020 04:50GMT

Image credit

Garry Kasparov ponders his next move against the IBM Deep Blue computer in New York in May 1997 (Credit: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

Sources

Christopher Steiner Automate This New York: Portfolio Penguin 2012; Claude E. Shannon"A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits". Trans. AIEE. 57 (12): 713鈥723. 1938

.laude E. Shannon 鈥淧rogramming a Computer for Playing Chess鈥 Philosophical Magazine, Ser.7, Vol. 41, No. 314 - March 1950.

Douglas Hofstadter G枚del, Escher, Bach New York: Basic Books 1979

, New Yorker, from around 5 minutes in.

James Somers 鈥溾 The Atlantic November 2013

Hannah Kuchler 鈥溾 The Financial Times 1 January 2020

Daniel Susskind London: Allen Lane 2020; AI Index Report 2019

Garry Kasparov 鈥淐hess, a Drosophila of reasoning鈥 Science 7 December 2018

Pedro Domingos The Master Algorithm London: Penguin 2017

Broadcasts

  • Sat 22 Feb 2020 05:50GMT
  • Sat 22 Feb 2020 14:50GMT
  • Sun 23 Feb 2020 14:50GMT
  • Sun 23 Feb 2020 15:50GMT
  • Sun 23 Feb 2020 22:50GMT
  • Mon 24 Feb 2020 04:50GMT

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