[VIDEO] Amazon's Alexa vs. Google Assistant Chess Match: Who Won, and Some Pointers to Consider

Joen Coronel, Tech Times 01 February 2021, 02:02 pm

Three years ago, the best voice assistant in playing chess was decided between Alexa of Amazon and Google Assistant. As we weigh what happened to the game, what is really going on with the two?

Now, the controversial game has resurfaced this year.

What Happened in Amazon's Alexa vs. Google Assistant Chess Match

Both Amazon and Google are tech titans when it comes to products. Similarly, the creation of virtual assistants, Alexa and Google Assistant, is one of the two companies' biggest creations. Many wondered why Google's assistant remained as-is, when in fact, Apple named its assistant as Siri while Microsoft has Cortana.

Still, for the tech company, Google, it does not matter how boring its assistant's name is, and it only boils down to its effectiveness and clarity as a speaker.

In the most awaited chess game between two virtual assistants on January 20, 2018, there are some points that viewers noticed. While it was entertaining because a lot of commands have been carried out for the virtual chess to run, many commented on what they observed in the game.

One YouTube commenter in the video by Pallant Digital Brighton said that when Google assistant made a valid chess move, Alexa responded that its opponent's move was invalid. In reality, Alexa experienced 'mondegreen,' when it misheard the letter 'e' instead of the letter 'd.'

A tile has a corresponding letter and number in chess, so moving a piece from a tile to another tile will result in a new move taken. Alexa and Google assistant might have different perceptions when it comes to hearing.

At the 1:44 mark of the game, Alexa misheard 'g5 to d2' to 'g5 to g2. In chess, g5 is a valid move since the bishop can move diagonally, and it will land to d2, which is in front of the king.

The other command, 'g5 to g2,' will not be possible as the bishop cannot pass through vertically unless it is a Queen or a rook. Either way, Alexa could have misunderstood that on purpose, but the chess players may find it unreasonable for a virtual assistant.

If Alexa will be a person, most likely that Alexa will be a cautious person since when it senses danger, it will perceive it as an illegal move even though it is really legal in some cases.

During the end-game at the 14:07 mark, Google assistant could have advanced its pawn and promoted it to either Queen or rook for an easier finish. Instead, it moved the King to g6, which even prolonged the virtual chess game. It took 14:30 for Google assistant to advance his pawn so that Alexa will be checked upon the promotion of its piece.

Finally, at 16:31, Google assistant emerged victorious over Alexa, when it moved its Queen at 'e1.' Alexa's King cannot move anymore since the Google assistant's Queen occupied the horizontal tile, while its king guarded the second row.

Everything throughout the game is as weird as it sounds. There were a lot of misheard moves, and strange responses from both virtual assistants were heard.

In the ending part of the video, when Google assistant said, "Checkmate, I win! Google is the best!," Amazon's Alexa responded, "Sorry I'm not sure. "The second time Google assistant repeated it, Alexa did not respond anymore.

The Final Say

While the entertainment is guaranteed to be at a high level, Reddit users had a lot to say about the outcome of the game. Some said that the chess match was enjoyable, while others admitted that it was infuriating.

As a chess player, there are many moves that could have changed the game for the better, but Google chose not to maneuver it. On the other hand, Alexa had more blunders than Google made, simply because of the misheard commands.

It only goes to show that the age of AI has invaded even our virtual games. But, the AI's capability to overtake the humans in thinking is not still halfway - as the lapses in the chess match proved the big difference in the rational thinking between people and machines.

Fans want another round of this chess match this year, but others suggest that Sundar Pichai and Jeff Bezos should still explore other areas of improvement of their virtual assistants if they want to surpass the humans when it comes to critical thinking and decision-making.