[dagw]

Why? They both seem identical to me in goals and research methodology.

In theory taking the work done on AlphaGo (and more importantly AlphaGo Zero) and generalizing it to non-Go related problems should be a lot easier than taking the work done on deep blue and generalizing to non chess related problem.

[alenmilk]

Yes, AlpaGo Zero is mainly self taught. It means it learned to play through the game mechanics. There are no databases of moves or smart optimizations that are based on our understanding of go.

[fjsolwmv]

AlphaGo is an application of general tech, just like Deep Blue was an application of general tech.