There were many notable advances in technology in 2017; like the Atlas backflip, the virtual home robot from Gatebox as well as interesting developments in photonic architecture. But I think the most exciting thing to happen on the tech scene is AlphaGo Zero beating the world champion…
This is a massively exciting breakthrough for AI, much bigger than Deep Blue's defeat of Kasparov. First denounced as an impossibility, then estimated to be at least a decade away, AI powerful enough to defeat a professional go player already shocked the world by teaching itself how to play go and by being efficient enough to run on a laptop. Then in March, it defeated the highest ranked go player in the world, Lee Sedol
Let's all look forward to even more exciting developments in technology in the coming year!
