AlphaGo

DeepMind's AlphaGo defeated Lee Sedol 4–1 in Seoul in March 2016. The match became a public landmark for machine learning, combining neural networks, search, and reinforcement learning.

The essay uses AlphaGo as a marker of public perception, not as evidence for a technical claim: a significant achievement could make headlines without its broader significance entering public consciousness.

Source

• DeepMind: AlphaGo — official retrospective research page.