Nonfungible token of historic human-AI Go battle up for auction

A nonfungible token of the historic match between between South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol and Google’s artificial intelligence Go player AlphaGo has been auctioned off as a digital content on OpenSea, the world’s largest marketplace for NFTs, officials said Monday. 

A nonfungible token is a digital recreation of media contents such as videos and photos that is traded via the blockchain. Upon the purchase through the internet auction site, investors can declare ownership of NFTs, which can’t be reproduced or counterfeited.

Lee’s NFT symbolizes his fourth game against AlphaGo that took place on Mar. 13, 2016. Lee defeated AlphaGo after a total of 180 moves. Out of the 74 official matches that AlphaGo has played, this was the only time it was defeated by a human player. 

“(The NFT) symbolizes not only my game with AlphaGo but my entire 25-year career as a professional Go player. It would make me happy if people acknowledged the NFT as having its own artistic value,” Lee said. 

Lee’s NFT has been released in partnership with 22nd Century Media, the publisher of South Korean blockchain media outlet CoinDesk Korea.

By Choi Jae-hee (cjh@heraldcorp.com)