China’s 19-year-old female professional Go player, Qin Siyue, has been stripped of her professional title and banned from competitions for 8 years for hiding a mobile phone and cheating using artificial intelligence (AI) during a match.
The Chinese Go Association announced on February 26th that on December 15, 2024, during the ninth round of the national Go championship for women’s individual competition, professional player Qin Siyue was found with a mobile phone during a routine inspection by the referee and was using an AI program on the phone.
After reviewing the video footage of the match day, listening to testimonies from on-site referees, players, and staff, it was confirmed that Qin Siyue had hidden a phone upon entering the venue in the early morning and cheated during the game, showing deceptive behavior when questioned about the facts. As a result, Qin Siyue was punished with the revocation of her professional title, cancellation of her results in the 2024 national Go championship (individual), and an 8-year ban from participating in all Go events and activities organized or authorized by the Chinese Go Association and its member units.
A popular host and “Big Brother” super influencer on Weibo commented, “Qin Siyue’s win rate was less than 40% in 2023, but suddenly rose to 70% in 2024. This abnormal performance was initially thought to be a ‘surge in skills’, but was ultimately proven to be related to cheating. Was she influenced by others? The possibility of a 19-year-old player actively planning cheating seems low.”
Mainland Chinese netizens expressed their views, with statements like “This is too unfair to others,” “What’s the point of competitions if everyone cheats,” “This is really harmful to her future prospects,” “Cheating with AI is unacceptable,” and “Fairness is paramount, we must firmly oppose cheating.”
Source: New Tang Dynasty.