> With the debut of AI in Go games, I've realized that I'm not at the top even if I become the number one through frantic efforts. https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20191127004800315

He'd been playing Go professionally for 24 years. I never said he ragequit. He's too great a man to do something like that. Lee instead apologized for his losses, stating "I misjudged the capabilities of AlphaGo and felt powerless" while emphasizing that the defeat was his own and "not a defeat of mankind". I imagine being the Hector of humanity is quite a burden to bear. His professional ratings then took a dive for a few years https://www.goratings.org/en/history/ before he announced his retirement. To this day he remains the only human being who's ever won a single game against AlphaGo.

So it would make sense for DeepMind's contract with him to contain a clause requiring him to continue playing go professionally for a few years (but not necessarily put much effort into it), as well as the standard non-disparagement clauses.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if AlphaGo was programmed to throw the forth game after securing the win with the first three of the five games. That gives Lee some bragging rights, and makes for a more hopeful story than "Computer stomps likeable human".

[1] https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/27/20985260/ai-go-alphago-l...