SenseTime unveils Go robot powered by AI

Chinese artificial intelligence pioneer SenseTime unveiled an AI interactive Go version of its consumer product "SenseRobot", bringing AI technologies and the Go game to more households.

Go, or weiqi in Chinese, is one of the earliest binary-based games and known for its complexity. After the historical game between South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol and AlphaGo in 2016, AI has gradually become an important "assistant" for players to train and improve.

Featuring SenseTime's advanced AI and robotic arm technology, the AI Go robot can practice and play games on a real board. Equipped with a large number of selected exercises and human-machine game training at 20 levels, the robot can meet the demands of both the amateur and the professional. It also enables connection to online Go platforms, where the user can play actual games with millions of players from across the world.

Compared with the SenseRobot's xiangqi model launched last August, which plays Chinese chess, this new robot has seen many technical breakthroughs. Shen Hui, dean of the Innovative Engineering Institute of SenseTime, said it was much harder to develop the Go robot and the previous version has laid a solid foundation.

Shen highlighted the robotic arm. Using cutting-edge visual techniques, algorithms and the company's originally designed arm, the robot can read the board and pick up small chess pieces precisely. Furthermore, the robot is able to reconstruct the scene of playing a real game, Shen said.

Nie Weiping, a Chinese Go master and the vice chairman of the Chinese Weiqi Association, tried the new robot and spoke highly of it. "Modern technology brings unprecedented challenges and opportunities," Nie said. He also noted the SenseRobot will promote the development of Go culture and help the public feel the charm of the game.

"We hope SenseRobot can re-define the future of family robots," said Xu Li, chairman and CEO of SenseTime. "It can not only bring new life experience for families, but also can inject new vitality into the Go game as our cultural treasure, and promote the diverse development of our traditional culture."