AlphaGo out of the question in Korean education, IT ecosystems

Attention is focusing on Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google Deep Mind and developer of artificial intelligence system AlphaGo. At Dream Hall at the Korea Advance Institute of Technology in Daejeon on Friday, the day after AlphaGo won go games against Lee Se-dol for two consecutive days, Hassabis said, “We don’t need to worry too much about rapid development of artificial intelligence. Basically, AlphaGo is a system that can only do one assignment (go).” He used humble expressions, but AlphaGo has alarmed the world by beating the world’s go champion through on deep learning in a short time.

We wonder whether Hassabis could have created AlphaGo as he has done today by starting Deep Mind by himself in 2010, if he were born in Korea. Considering his comments “When young I was a game addict, and I was always with the computer,” he would probably have become a professional gamer or a doctor in the best case scenario or a game addict now.

Raised in the U.K., he graduated from high school two years earlier than others, but he entered Peter Molyneux, a world-renowned computer game developer. Later, he entered Cambridge University for his bigger dream of integrating computer algorithm with the human brain, going beyond simple development of computer games. He studied computer science at college, but acquired his doctorate in brain science. Robust interdisciplinary study in British enabled him to realize his dream.

Google, which acquired Deep Mind for 500 million British pounds (712 million dollars) in 2014, did not attempt to rob ideas, and Hassabis did not accept Google’s takeover bid just to earn money. In order to achieve his dream of Deep Mind, he had to use computing power of Google Cloud.

The IT ecosystem in Korea is not operating seamlessly. Conglomerates are expressing discontent, saying that they have few companies worth taking over. However, conglomerates are not acquiring startups by paying fair prices, and are only interested in stealing ideas. As a result, talented people seek to avoid risks and are reluctant to launch new startups. President Park Geun-hye’s creative economy policy is in the right direction in that it seeks to link conglomerates with startups. However, the question lingers as to whether a state-led initiative is the way to go. Voluntarism is a vital element to the IT ecosystem.

A great IT ecosystem is not established overnight without education reform. The starting point of startups and shared growth between startups and conglomerates is creative human resources. Korea will not be able to nurture Hassabis or develop AlphaGo if it remains in an environment wherein most students engage in study that have nothing to do with creativity, and enter colleges and face difficulties landing jobs after engaging in unlimited competition.

송평인기자 pisong@donga.com