Google has sparked a great deal of interest in artificial intelligence in Korea, with the recent match between Go master Lee Se-dol and AI program AlphaGo ending with a final score of 4-1 in favor of the software.

Some critics have called the five-game match a mere marketing gimmick, but whatever it may be, the California-based Internet firm has drawn the public’s attention toward AI. 

U.S. tech giant IBM – or Big Blue -- was a household name in AI, before Google stole the limelight.

Robert High, chief technology officer of IBM’s supercomputing program Watson, hailed the increased interest in AI. He was in Seoul for an AI conference, a day after the end of the historic Go match.

“It is fortuitous in timing, and most importantly auspicious for the entire (AI) industry,” he said at the Global AI Symposium organized by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute in Seoul.

When asked about the mistakes made by AI, such as those made by AlphaGo in the Go match, he emphasized the importance of human roles in managing highly advanced computing technology.

“It is so important to maintain humans in the loop (when running cognitive computing and AI systems). Because at the end of the day humans have to be accountable for the decisions being made by (the computer systems),” High said.

After the Go match, some critics had pointed out that AlphaGo’s mistakes and its one loss bodes ill for AI as flaws in computer algorithms and mistakes could create overwhelming consequences.

Despite the risks of advanced computing systems being deployed for ill-intended purposes, he said this should not hamper people from using such systems.

“We should not be afraid of cognitive computing (and AI),” said the IBM executive.

“It will amplify human creativity and inspire people with new alternatives for decisions,” he added.

IBM’s chess-playing computer Deep Blue won a match against human champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. Its Watson computer system also became a Jeopardy quiz show champion in 2011.

Deep Blue employed what is described as brute force in layman terms, a computer technique that evaluates all possible variations and makes final decisions for solutions.

Watson understood natural language and came up with the best answers to questions asked by humans.

Since coming up with these two systems, IBM, which is considered a pioneer in AI, has made great strides in the sector. Big Blue has recently been pushing to nurture its cognitive computing technology, which can infer and reason like humans, and suggest the best answers.

It is trying to deploy the cognitive computing technology for products and services in sectors including health care and finance.

It is working with 530 partners for cognitive computing applications. More than 100 universities also offer courses for IBM’s cognitive computing.

The U.S. firm is also putting weight on developing text-to-speech and speech-to-text, systems as well as solutions that analyze human emotions through texts and voices.

Riding the recent AI wave, global tech firms that have been nurturing their own AI solutions are upping the ante for the futuristic tech business.

Companies like Facebook, Apple and Samsung Electronics have jumped on the AI bandwagon in recent years.

Samsung Electronics has been seeking ways to develop and utilize technologies related to AI -- such as deep learning, which is a set of algorithms for recognition capabilities -- in its products, including smartphones.

Deep learning is an advanced form of machine learning that evaluates the best options in decision making, and creates new information based on collected data. For example, a machine can paint a cat after looking at thousands of pictures of cats.

The Korean smartphone maker recently contacted a team of researchers at Hanyang University for future collaboration in deep learning.

The research team led by Chang Joon-hyuk, an associate professor for engineering at Hanyang University, and Lee Ki-bong, a researcher at the same university, recently issued a thesis on a telecommunication solution equipped with deep-learning technology that can improve call quality.

“People will be able to pick up voices more clearly despite loud background noises thanks to the deep learning-based solution,” professor Chang said.

“The development of the technology is still in the initial phase, but will further mature later throughout this year and next year,” said the professor, who expects that the technology can be commercialized in the coming years.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)