> more practical and impressive computer science achievements
If we came out with a polynomial time solution for the graph coloring problem, you could use that same logic to say "it's just labeling colors, what's the big deal?"
If we came out with a polynomial time solution for the graph coloring problem, you could use that same logic to say "it's just labeling colors, what's the big deal?"
Besides, people who make advances in abstract problems like that do not release PR statements and get 1/1000th of the hype and coverage AlphaGo received recently.
This achievement will be useful in a myriad of obvious applications. And, it is one of the greatest engineering feats that I have been alive to witness.
Have you read the research paper and seen how much of AlphaGo's architecture was designed around the specifics of Go gameplay? (Including a set of handcrafted Go-specific training features.)
[1] According to some comment in /r/MachineLearning the other day. I haven't looked into it myself.