Simplified AlphaGo as a Tool for AI Education
Educational Initiative: Building Their Own Minimalistic AlphaGo
The Digital Governance Lab and BK21 Project at Yonsei University initiated a summer project where students built their own minimalistic version of AlphaGo. The goal of this project was to provide students from humanities and social science backgrounds with the opportunity to learn key technical concepts in modern artificial intelligence. The selected students who successfully developed their own AI participated in the 16th UEC Cup World AI Competition in Go, held in Chofu, Japan, on July 20-21, 2024.
Why AlphaGo?
We chose the game of Go (also known as Baduk or Weiqi) to learn key AI concepts for several reasons. First, the Google DeepMind team's research papers, the book Deep Learning and the Game of Go, and the open-source KataGo project offered clear guidance and a chance to explore groundbreaking AI research. Second, games effectively teach concepts by making learning enjoyable and motivating students. Third, the 16th UEC Cup World AI Competition in Go, hosted by the University of Electro-Communications, inspired students to complete their projects. We sincerely thank Dr. Takeshi Ito, Kunihito Hoki, and the UEC team for their support.
Project Gallery
As a result of this educational initiative, three AI models were created. Two were developed by students enrolled in the master’s program, and one was developed by Dr. Sounman Hong, the faculty member who led this project. All participants were from the Department of Public Policy and Management at Yonsei University. You can find more information by clicking the following link.
This initiative began as a collaborative effort overseen by multiple organizations within Yonsei University, including the Digital Governance Lab, the Institute of Regulatory Governance, and the BK21 Four project at the Department of Public Policy & Management. Leadership for these organizations is provided by Sounman Hong, a faculty member at Yonsei University.
Impacts
Media Attention
This project garnered interest and media attention in Korea. Selected articles published by Korean news media include:
NHK Interview
The AI education program targeted for students with humanities and social science backgrounds received significant interests in Japan. The two students who participated in the UEC Cup did an interview with NHK, the major news media in Japan.
