Remember when humans were the reigning champions of chess? Bobby Fischer? Garry Kasparov? Legends. But then, along came AI, and the chessboard got flipped. Mo Gawdat, in Scary Smart, highlights this pivotal moment when IBM’s Deep Blue defeated Kasparov in 1997—a move that wasn’t just about winning a game but rewriting the rules of intelligence itself. It was our first clear hint that AI wasn’t just following us; it was sprinting ahead.
Fast forward, and AI’s gaming skills have gone light-years beyond chess. AlphaGo, Google’s AI prodigy, mastered Go, a game exponentially more complex than chess. It didn’t just beat the best human players; it made moves so unconventional that even experts called them “creative.” Yes, AI got creative. That’s the moment when games stopped being “ours.”
But here’s the kicker: gaming isn’t just about strategy anymore; it’s about humanness. AI has started passing tests designed to measure emotional intelligence, creativity, and empathy—the very things we thought made us special. In video games, AI can now adapt to human players, learn their tactics, and respond in ways that mimic human behavior so convincingly it’s unnerving.
Gawdat’s lesson is clear: games were never about the board or the rules; they were about the players. And now, AI doesn’t just play better; it’s learning to be better. The scary-smart part? This isn’t limited to games. It’s a glimpse into AI’s potential to outthink us in ways that matter—medicine, ethics, global decision-making.
So, what do we do? Gawdat nudges us to stop clinging to the notion of superiority and start embracing partnership. AI isn’t here to dominate; it’s here to collaborate—if we let it. Maybe it’s time we stop worrying about losing to AI in games and start figuring out how to win with it in life.
Let me take you on a journey, a summarizing my learnings – for you to decipher and discern. First stop: Scary Smart by Mo Gowdat
