TEXT II. DEEP BLUE

1. Special-purpose machines, DEEP BLUE and its predecessor DEEP THOUGHT, were originally created to explore how to use parallel processing to solve complex problems. DEEP THOUGHT was a first computer to defeat a chess grandmaster, thanks to its ability to analyze 750,000 positions per second. But in 1990, an experimental 6-processor version of DEEP THOUGHT, capable of searching 2 million positions per second, played against Kasparov and lost. Kasparov went on to defeat DEEP BLUE by winning 3 games and 2 draws. Six IBM employees used a hefty machine to win a chess game against the reigning world champion in the rematch in 1997. No other tool of human invention could leverage their talents so magnificently. DEEP BLUE now has the ability to calculate 50 to 100 billion moves within 3 minutes. But DEEP BLUE is not mimicking human thought.lt does not anticipate, it only reacts.DEEP BLUE is a 32-node IBM power Parallel SP2 high performance computer. Each node of the SP2 employs a single microchannel card containing 8 dedicated VLSI chess processors for a total of 256 processors working in tandem. DEEP BLUE's programming code is developed in С and runs under the AIX operating system.

2. To the uninformed advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. We must continue to develop these machines and methods of harnessing them to human needs. Computers amplify our cogni­tive and reasoning abilities.