Anticipation is growing as the showdown between top Korean Go player Lee Se-dol and artificial intelligence software AlphaGo will take place in Seoul early next month.

The Go match, consisting of five games scheduled between March 9 and 15, has been garnering attention from the public, enthusiasts of the game and the technology sector.

Jung Jae-seung, a bio and brain engineering professor of KAIST, said, “The match between Lee Se-dol and AlphaGo is more than just a challenge posed by an AI program fitted with advanced Go skills that can go against a human.

“It means that just like humans, an AI program can now learn from experience and map out strategies with reasoning.”

At a press meeting held Monday in Seoul, the Korean Go player, known for his forthrightness and boldness, appeared confident about the upcoming face-off against the computer program.

“Regardless of the result, the match will be a historic one in Go history,” he said.

Though he acknowledged that AI has greatly advanced, he predicts that the machine will “hardly be able to win one of the five games -- at least not this time.”