AI Won’t Stop People From Playing Games

Today’s existential questions about artificial intelligence began in 1997 over a chessboard. That year, world champion Garry Kasparov lost to a computer named Deep Blue, forcing the chess world to grapple with the limits of human talent. Instead of collapsing, chess flourished, with more players, games and communities than ever. That should encourage the screenwriters, poets and artists who now worry that AI will leave them unemployed.

We are a student-teacher pair. Mr. Pandolfini watched the Kasparov-Deep Blue match in person, while Mr. Raskin started learning the game later that year. Those who watched the match knew how the story would end. At some point, if not in 1997, the algorithm would be victorious. But that hasn’t diminished our zeal for the game.