Hi, I'm Brant Menzoir, and welcome to my show, Just a Moment. As a former world touring musician turned keynote speaker and author, I've experienced my share of life-altering moments that have both broken me and propelled me forward. How you leverage those moments or push through them will define your destiny. Each week on my show, I'll provide tools on how to maximize those moments, as well as interview some of the most successful entrepreneurs, entertainers, and athletes on how the power of a single moment change their life. Join me to learn how to change what's possible for your life. It'll take just a moment. Before we jump in, let me set the table for just a moment. If you've never heard the name AlphaGo, the moment we're about to talk about won't land the way it should. AlphaGo wasn't a robot. It wasn't a humanoid. It wasn't science fiction. It was a computer program created by a research lab called DeepMind, and it had one very specific purpose, to play and eventually master the ancient board game Go. That might not sound revolutionary until you understand what Go represents. For decades, Go was considered the one game computers simply could not conquer. Not because it was too complicated, but because it relied on intuition, pattern recognition, long-term vision, a kind of feel for the board that humans believed belonged only to us. So when AlphaGo stepped into the world of Go, it wasn't just playing a game. It was stepping into sacred ground. I want to tell you about a moment that made some of the smartest people in the world go quiet. Not because something failed. Not because something broke. But because something happened that wasn't supposed to be possible. And when it did, everyone watching understood instantly. The rules had changed. Go is an ancient board game. more than 2,500 years old. At first glance it looks almost too simple A wooden board black stones white stones Two players take turns placing stones trying to control territory No dice no cards no hidden information Everything is visible. And that is exactly what makes it so complex. You see, in chess, there are roughly 10 to the power of 120 possible board positions. In Go, there are more possible board positions than atoms in the observable universe. You cannot calculate your way through Go. You cannot brute force it. The best players don't solve the board. They feel it. Which is why, for decades, experts said the same thing. A computer won't master Go in our lifetime. Chess, yes. Checkers, sure. But Go? Go was different. Go was human. Before AlphaGo, artificial intelligence worked in a familiar way. Humans defined the rules. Machines searched faster. The best option won. That approach collapsed in Go. There were too many possibilities. Too much ambiguity. Too much intuition. So Go became a symbol. If a machine ever beat a human at Go, it would not just mean faster computation. It would mean something deeper had shifted. In 2016, AlphaGo faced Lee Sedol, one of the greatest Go players in history. This was not a novelty match. Lee Sedol was respected, creative, brilliant. Most experts expected a close contest. Some believed Lee would win. Millions of people watched. And then came game number two. Midway through the game, AlphaGo places a stone. Move 37. And the room freezes. Not dramatic silence. Confused silence. Commentators laugh nervously. Experts assume it's a mistake. One of them says out loud, that's not a human move. And he does not mean it as praise Lee Sedol leaves the room He needs some air Over the next several moves something unsettling becomes clear The move was not wrong. It was new. Not random. Not lucky. Creative. A move no human would make, because no human would even see it. The board begins to tilt. Lee Sedol realizes it's too late. AlphaGo wins the game. This was not just a loss. Lee Sedol later said that Move 37 changed how we understood Go itself. Professional players around the world began studying AlphaGo's games, learning from a machine. For the first time, AI was not just executing strategy. It was expanding the map, showing possibilities humans had never imagined. That is when the fear changed shape. Not AI will replace us, but something far more unsettling. AI may see what we cannot. AlphaGo did not win by being faster. It won by not inheriting human assumptions. It did not care about tradition. It did not respect how the game had always been played. It did not worry about looking foolish. It made a move that looked wrong until it worked. And in doing so, it revealed something uncomfortable. Our rules are often smaller than reality. And this is where this moment stops being a story about a machine and becomes a story about how we should be using AI. Because AlphaGo did not win by giving better answers faster. It won because it was allowed to see the problem without inheriting human blind spots. You see, that's the shift. Most leaders are using AI like a smarter intern. We ask it to summarize, to optimize, to speed things up, to give us answers that sound familiar. And that is not where the real value is AlphaGo did not ask what the best move according to the past It asked what possible from here So here the lesson AI should not be used to confirm what you already believe. It should be used to challenge how you're seeing the situation. Not to replace judgment, but to stress test it. Not to give you certainty, but to offer perspectives you would never consider on your own. The moment AI becomes most dangerous is when it only echoes your worldview. The moment it becomes most powerful is when it shows you something differently. Instead of asking, what's the fastest way to do this? Ask, what assumptions am I making that might not be true? Instead of asking, what's the best practice? Ask, what would I never try and why? Instead of asking for the answer, ask, what am I not seeing? See, AlphaGo did not replace human players. It changed how humans understand the game. That is the model. AI is not here to take the board away from you. It's here to help you see the whole board. And if you are only using it to move faster inside the same old patterns, you're missing the move that matters. Where in your leadership might the next breakthrough feel wrong before it feels right? What if the move you're dismissing is not a mistake, but a perspective you've never allowed yourself to see? because sometimes the move that changes everything is the one no one would dare to make until someone does. Thanks for spending this moment with me. I'm Brant Mensbar, and this is Just a Moment. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Just a Moment. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast and tell a friend or two about it to help spread the word so everyone can find a moment that inspires them. Don't forget to leave us a review and check us out on the web at justamomentpodcast.com. Just a Moment is produced by Natalie Von Rose and Brent Menswar. For more inspiring shows like this, visit surroundpodcasts.com.
