Computer Chess

 

Still from Computer Chess (2013)

Yesterday I watched Computer Chess  and today I read that Google bought DeepMind, the artificial intelligence firm founded by Demis Hassabis, former chess prodigy. Chess and artificial intelligence have a rich combined history and Andrew Bujalski’s film functions as an entertaining primer on that relationship. It’s what I’d call an AI period piece, and the scenes that work best are the ones that replicate the atmosphere of academic colloquia. I don’t think I have ever before seen grad student mannerisms depicted in film with such fidelity.

Tao Lin interviewed Bujalski for Motherboard and you can read their conversation here.