What Google's Go announcement means for your website copy

goboard

Last week, Google announced it had developed an artificial intelligence programme capable of beating the European world champion of the board game Go.

Computers, of course, have long been able to take on - and beat - chess champions. But Google's latest achievement is of a whole different order.

Where chess has 9 million possible positions, Go has 10^171 possible positions. In other words, ten followed by 171 zeros. That's a lot of possible moves.

What's this got to do with your website?

Well, think about it. If Google can develop a machine that can think 10^171 moves ahead, what chance do you think you have of outsmarting it?

If Google can spot the implications of any given black stone, placed at any one of 19 x 19 intersections, at any point in the game, it can spot a clunky bit of keyword stuffing a mile off. Make that 10^171 miles off.

The lesson? Don't write for Google, write for human beings.

BBC report on Google's announcement about the Go programme