S5.2 - Unscripted: How AI is Changing the Top Players, Handmade Go Mats, & Ancient Boards | Go / Baduk / Weiqi

This episode is from All Things Go, a podcast about the board game Go, also known as Baduk in Korea and Weiqi in China.

Travis explores how AI is reshaping elite professional Go, including the tension between standardized openings and renewed creativity. He also highlights a handmade Go mat, ancient board history, Edward Lasker’s famous extraterrestrial Go idea, community outreach, and early research on Go and cognition.

Full transcript, related episodes, and additional resources:

https://allthingsgogame.com/2026/07/27/ai-changing-professional-go-ancient-boards-research/

Join the All Things Go Discord community:

https://discord.gg/uf3jgEAA4J

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastAC

• AI is rewiring how the world’s best Go players think | MIT Technology Review
• Dustin's posts on making awesome Go mats, first Go club experiences, and more
• Adam's Grant's podcast with an astrophysicist about intelligent life in the universe (this made me think of the Edward Lasker quote about Go and intelligent life elsewhere)
• Cool ancient Go board history
• The All Things Go interview with Jake Kim

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