Full-time comic artist

"He's a true genius; he could serialize a story while still in high school," Akira Toriyama continued to praise. "I've been watching his 'Hikaru no Go' all along, and the plot and artwork are both excellent."

"That's really impressive." The female host had no choice but to continue the conversation.

"I feel like he'll surpass me in the future," Akira Toriyama nodded seriously. "Huh?"

He looked around. "Was it wrong to say that?"

Then, pointing at the camera, he said, "Don't get too cocky, Tori Akino! I was just being polite."

The audience burst into laughter, "Hahahaha."

Hibiki Higashino immediately stood up and watched Akira Toriyama, who was somewhat socially awkward, speak eloquently on stage, feeling a surge of emotion.

“However, your recent content is indeed very interesting,” Akira Toriyama said. “You’ve prioritized the plausibility of the plot over the pursuit of ratings at the expense of the core of the work.”

"Let's keep going like this. Temporary achievements don't mean anything. Keep it up, Akino Tori!"

As the time dragged on, the host quickly steered the conversation back on track.

Higashino Hibiki could no longer see what they were saying; he had already closed his eyes, his heart filled with countless emotions.

“Higashino-kun,” Akemi Akimiya patted his shoulder, “Akira Toriyama is encouraging you. He’s worried that you’ll get discouraged by a temporary win or loss.”

Higashino nodded heavily. "He underestimates me."

No wonder Sasaki made him watch this program again and again; it was the teacher's deep affection for his student.

Higashino Hibiki was deeply moved.

"I'm going back to work on the storyboard."

He stood up and went back to his bedroom.

He spread out his sketches at his desk, suppressed his surging emotions, and then calmly began to draw the comic.

Chapter 56 Artificial Intelligence

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye, and 10 days of summer vacation have already gone by.

The score of "Hikaru no Go" hovered between 4 and 7, gradually finding its place.

Yuko Asahina has finished producing the animation; now all that's left is the post-production voice acting.

I consulted Tetsuya Endo, who said that there are many voice actor training schools in Hachioji City, and I could find some students there to do voice acting.

In student animation competitions, if the voice acting is too good, it might actually get you a lower score, as it might give the judges the impression that you're really eager to win.

With voice acting becoming more professional, judges will also use professional standards to evaluate the works.

So, Akemi Akemi drove Yuko Asahina to the school recommended by Tetsuya Endo.

Hibiki Higashino didn't come along; one more person wouldn't make a difference. He'd rather stay at Yoshiwara-sou and continue drawing manga.

“Hachioji City?” He looked up abruptly, suddenly realizing that his younger sister, Higashino Mei, had attended high school in Hachioji City.

She said she couldn't bear to part with a good friend, and since her grades were just right, we let her go.

Mei suddenly changed her behavior, no longer relying on her brother. After inheriting Hibiki Higashino's memories, he was quite lost.

"If I'd thought of it earlier, I would have gone together." Higashino Hibiki shook his head and continued drawing his manga.

He plans to make some changes to the content of this "Hikaru no Go" series.

After all, the original work by Yumi Hotta was created in 1997, while her vision is in 2022, so she could have drawn "Hikaru no Go" even closer to the future.

This echoes the future of Go.

After 2017, the average person became aware of the power of artificial intelligence.

In the comment section of Ke Jie, the eight-time world champion, there are always netizens ringing the bell:

"May 27, 2017, the last day of the Wuzhen Go Summit. Facing AlphaGo, Ke Jie tried his best but to no avail, and finally resigned, ending the man-machine Go match with Ke Jie's third consecutive defeat. xxxx days have passed since then."

Please be aware.

The most famous turning point in the modern history of Go is one that would be too obsessive not to draw out.

The entire Hikaru no Go series revolves around the pursuit of the "divine move," featuring characters like Fujiwara Sai, Touya Kouhiro, Shindo Hikaru, and Touya Akira...

In an instant, he broke through his own Go level and made an incredible move.

If this applies to humans, then it applies to AI as well.

In the future, those capable of making "divine moves" may not necessarily be humans, but could also be AI.

This is what Hibino Hibiki wanted to draw in this chapter.

It may go against some of the core themes of "Hikaru no Go", but artificial intelligence is there, and whether it is drawn or not, it will change the situation of Go.

It's better to let the readers think about it.

……

On Monday, Shinoda, a 4-dan professional Go player, evaded the students at the Go Institute and began reading manga magazines in his office.

My good friend Asakura, a sixth-dan professional, asked in surprise, "Why are you reading comic magazines now? Those are for kids."

"There's a manga called 'Hikaru no Go' in here. It's very realistic and quite moving to read," Shinoda explained honestly.

"Then let me take a look too." Asakura sat down next to him.

After the middle school Go competition, Xiao Liang overcame his fear and began his journey to becoming a professional Go player.

Xiao Guang unexpectedly learns that there is a website called "World Go Network" where you can play Go with people from all over the world on your computer.

And so, Sai, using the online name "sai," began his path to becoming the Great Demon King.

Amateur chess players from all over the world, including the United States, Britain, and China, lost to him, and the name "Sai" began to spread widely.

They were all wondering, who exactly is this "Sai"?

At an international amateur Go tournament held in Japan, professional Go players from various countries gathered together and talked about "sai".

Everyone believes that he is a strong player who can rival a professional 9th ​​dan.

At that very moment, a unique competition unfolded on the computer.

The opponent who battles "sai" is named "ai".

The other party commented that the person playing against "Sai" was an artificial intelligence developed by the company, possessing high learning ability and powerful algorithms, having memorized tens of thousands of game records, and hoped that "Sai" would demonstrate its strength.

Sai was very excited. He never thought that one day he would be able to play against a machine. Only by being blessed by the gods could he enjoy such a unique experience.

Driven by curiosity, he unleashed his full potential.

By 1994, Honinbo Shusaku had mastered modern Go techniques, and Sai was already an invincible, evolved version.

"ai" vs. "sai"!

Kurata, a sixth-dan player, couldn't help but grip his folding fan, eagerly anticipating what would happen next.

Artificial intelligence began to emerge on the historical stage in the 50s.

After several stages of stagnation and development, scientists in the 90s were able to develop machine learning and algorithms that could learn on their own at a very basic level.

Kurata realized that this was the first time in Go literature that a competition between artificial intelligence and Go players had been proposed.

This unique perspective is indeed very appealing.

"Go has 19 horizontal and 19 vertical lines, 361 stones, and infinite possibilities. How could it possibly be calculated to the end?"

He shook his head violently.

Japanese Go emphasizes philosophy, seeking to understand the way of Go through Zen meditation, and focusing on the aesthetics of playing the game.

According to his understanding of "AI", it is absolutely mechanical and utilitarian in its moves.

If Sai loses to artificial intelligence, does that mean the author of "Hikaru no Go" believes that Japanese Go has no future?

He became increasingly nervous, forgetting that it was just a comic book, as if the comic depicted the future.

In 1994, even the most advanced artificial intelligence products in laboratories were still riddled with flaws in Go.

It wasn't until 1997 that the supercomputer "Deep Blue" defeated the number one ranked chess player.

Faced with the more complex game of Go, AI decisively resigned in the middle game.

Sometimes it makes moves that humans cannot understand, and gradually it heads towards its demise.

She's not even as good as the student named "zelda" who previously lost to "sai".

In the field of Go, AI is still far from being developed.

However, Fujiwara no Sai was extremely serious. During his game against "AI", he discovered a move that he himself could not understand.

Despite seemingly being at a huge disadvantage, "ai" managed to hold on for another twenty moves thanks to that one trick.

He realized that "ai" has infinite possibilities.

In the future, he seemed to see the most powerful chess player in history.

I broke out in a cold sweat.

In the comic, one of the people watching "ai" and "sai" play a game of chess is a British youth named Demis Hassabis, who is 18 years old this year.

He, watching this game, was, of course, an amateur Go player. After seeing "Sai's" moves, he was filled with despair. The intelligent man already understood that he would never be able to surpass "Sai" in his lifetime.

It was like an insurmountable monument that left him in awe.

In the end of the comic, Demis Hassabis decides to pursue the path of artificial intelligence.

He happened to be a computer science student at Cambridge University. Since he was not as good at playing chess as "SAI", he was determined to create an artificial intelligence that could surpass "SAI"!

Chapter 57 Make Things Hard for Yourself

Sai tells Hikaru that the only way to defeat "AI" in the future is to rely on the realm of the God's Hand.

Human computational capabilities cannot compare to the perfection of "AI".

He has existed for a thousand years, and in that long time he has come to understand the limits of humanity. Only with the help of a god, breaking through the existing boundaries and rising to the level of a god, is it possible to defeat the computational power of "AI".

Hikaru was very dissatisfied. He felt that the "AI" was not as good as himself, and what did Sai, this old-fashioned guy, know about this kind of modern technology?

Sai said that computers have been around for less than a century, and AI is even more so. He has become accustomed to the passage of time. Perhaps in just thirty years, human Go players will be utterly defeated by AI.