Before ChatGPT, There Was Move 37: Rewatching AlphaGo’s Boldest Play
- by: Kunal Chaudhari
I recently rewatched the AlphaGo documentary, and even though it originally came out in 2016, it feels more relevant than ever in 2025.
At its core, AlphaGo is the story of how DeepMind’s AI took on the complex and ancient game of Go—and beat one of the world’s best players, Lee Sedol. But it's more than just a documentary about a machine winning a game. It’s a powerful exploration of human creativity, intuition, and what happens when we meet a new kind of intelligence.
One of the moments that gave me chills was when AlphaGo made a move that shocked even the experts—a move that no human would’ve ever played, yet it turned out to be brilliant. That moment felt like a turning point, not just in the game, but in the way we see AI: not just as a tool, but as something that can innovate in its own right.
What really hit me, though, was watching this now—nine years after AlphaGo’s big moment. In 2025, AI is everywhere. We now use it in our daily lives without even realizing it: from content creation and medicine to personal assistants and scientific research. Watching AlphaGo today feels like looking back at the first step of a long, fast-moving journey. It was a glimpse of the future—one that has now arrived.
But despite all the advancements, what makes this documentary so special is how human it is. You feel the pressure Lee Sedol is under. You see the awe in the eyes of developers watching their creation do the unexpected. You experience the quiet philosophical shift as people start to ask: What now?
If you’ve never seen AlphaGo, I highly recommend it—not just for the tech, but for the reflection it invites. And if you have seen it, watch it again. In light of everything AI has become since then, it hits differently.
At its core, AlphaGo is the story of how DeepMind’s AI took on the complex and ancient game of Go—and beat one of the world’s best players, Lee Sedol. But it's more than just a documentary about a machine winning a game. It’s a powerful exploration of human creativity, intuition, and what happens when we meet a new kind of intelligence.
One of the moments that gave me chills was when AlphaGo made a move that shocked even the experts—a move that no human would’ve ever played, yet it turned out to be brilliant. That moment felt like a turning point, not just in the game, but in the way we see AI: not just as a tool, but as something that can innovate in its own right.
What really hit me, though, was watching this now—nine years after AlphaGo’s big moment. In 2025, AI is everywhere. We now use it in our daily lives without even realizing it: from content creation and medicine to personal assistants and scientific research. Watching AlphaGo today feels like looking back at the first step of a long, fast-moving journey. It was a glimpse of the future—one that has now arrived.
But despite all the advancements, what makes this documentary so special is how human it is. You feel the pressure Lee Sedol is under. You see the awe in the eyes of developers watching their creation do the unexpected. You experience the quiet philosophical shift as people start to ask: What now?
If you’ve never seen AlphaGo, I highly recommend it—not just for the tech, but for the reflection it invites. And if you have seen it, watch it again. In light of everything AI has become since then, it hits differently.
