EMANUEL Lasker, a philosopher and World Chess Champion, postulated a hypothetical creature called the 'macheide.' Lasker said that the 'macheide' is a being whose senses are so sharpened by evolution and relentless struggle, that it always chooses the best way and methodology to perpetuate the success of its species. Thus, in chess, according to Lasker, it will make all the right moves in any given chess position. If two macheides play the game of chess, the game will cease to exist as a viable thinking game for humans. I told myself that could never happen because there are more possible variations in a game of chess than there are atoms in the known universe.

Now it has come to pass. Computers powered by artificial intelligence (AI) can make calculations in nanoseconds. Picasso was wrong when he said that computers are useless because they can only give you answers.