Demis Hassabis, the co-founder of Google DeepMind, reunited with legendary South Korean Go player Lee Sedol on Wednesday. A decade ago, Lee competed against Google's AI program AlphaGo in a globally watched man-versus-machine contest.

"Great to be back here, back to where it all began," Hassabis remarked during an event hosted by Google in central Seoul. He noted that the historic five-game match "marked the beginning of the astonishing progress in artificial intelligence over the past ten years."

When asked about Lee Sedol's 2016 match against AlphaGo, the Google executive highlighted AlphaGo's 37th move as the "most incredible moment," showcasing the creative capacity of artificial intelligence.

In the second game of the 2016 match, AlphaGo made an unconventional "shoulder hit" on the fifth line with its 37th move—a play widely regarded as the key to victory, ultimately helping it defeat Lee Sedol.

Hassabis stated that this kind of AI-driven creativity could lead to a new "renaissance" in scientific fields, much as it helped him solve the "protein folding problem," a challenge that had eluded researchers for 50 years and ultimately earned him the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

"I believe it's even possible that within the next 10 to 20 years we could solve all diseases. We can use these technologies to improve the environment and develop new energy sources," he said.

The "father of AlphaGo" also highlighted South Korea's potential to become a leader in the field of artificial intelligence.

"South Korea excels in areas from semiconductors to robotics manufacturing, with strong industrial capacity, top-tier universities, and research institutions," he noted. "So I believe South Korea has all the conditions needed to become a global leader in AI technology."

Hassabis began his visit to South Korea on Monday, meeting with President Lee Jae-myung and signing a memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation plans with the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The executive also held separate meetings with leaders of major South Korean conglomerates, including LG Group and Hyundai Motor Group.