A bot just annihilated one of the world's best video gamers
A bot just defeated one of the world's best video gamers
by Jackie Wattles August 12, 2017: 3:36 PM ET
An artificial intelligence program just annihilated its
human competition at a world championship video game contest.
The AI win stunned the gaming community, because bots are
generally considered inferior to expert human players.
This one from Open AI -- a nonprofit artificial
intelligence research firm known mainly for its backing by serial entrepreneur
Elon Musk, of Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX fame -- is a different story, and
possibly a cautionary one.
Open AI says its mission is to promote
"responsible" AI development.
Or, as Musk puts it, to ensure that AI doesn't grow
unchecked and become the death of humanity.
Musk said Saturday via Twitter that AI is "more [of
a] risk than North Korea."
To test out some harmless uses for AI, one Open AI team
taught a bot to play Dota 2.
Dota 2, for those unfamiliar, is an online multi-player
battle game. It works kind of like a complex virtual version of capture the
flag. Teams of players use powerful characters, called "heroes," to
battle each other. The game ends when one team has taken down a structure,
called an "Ancient," in the opposing team's home base.
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Elon Musk ✔
@elonmusk
OpenAI first ever to defeat world's best players in competitive
eSports. Vastly more complex than traditional board games like chess & Go.
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Greg Brockman, Open AI co-founder and chief technology officer,
explained the team's methods in a YouTube video posted Friday.
"Our bot is trained entirely through self play. It
starts out completely random with no knowledge of the world, and simply plays
against a copy of itself -- which means it always has an evenly matched
opponent," Brockman said.
The bot kept playing until its skill level reached that
of the world's best Dota 2 players, he added.
Then, Brockman said, it was time to put the bot to the
test at The International, which is Dota 2's world championship. The tournament
kicked off in Seattle on August 7, with a $10.7 million grand prize up for
grabs.
On Friday, the bot entered a best-of-five series with
Danil Ishutin, a professional Dota 2 player from Ukraine who goes by the name
Dendi. Because this was a side attraction, the bot wasn't eligible for prize
money.
(Dota 2 games are typically played between teams of five,
but the organizers of The International decided to switch it up for the bot's
match.)
Before the battle kicked off, Dendi greeted the screaming
crowd at Seattle Center's Keyarena, where the competition was hosted, wearing a
hooded white robe and playfully boxing the air.
Moments later, Open AI's bot was introduced as a
pizza-box-sized robot draped in a silky black robe. It was flanked by burly
bodyguards wearing all black, who proceeded to hook up the bot to a computer.
DOTA 2 @DOTA2
In case you missed it, here is the live production of the
hero reveal https://www.twitch.tv/videos/166172514?t=562m45s
…
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A video introduction for the bot showed various (human)
Dota 2 players sharing their opinions on bots.
"They're pretty awful," one player said.
But when the game kicked off, it became clear Open AI's
bot was a different beast.
It bested Dendi -- who's somewhat of a celebrity in the
gaming community -- in two short rounds. And rather than attempt a third round,
Dendi surrendered.
"He's too strong," Dendi said with a smile,
referring to the bot. "I need more time [to practice] I guess."
Dendi later elaborated on Twitter that he found the bot
"fun" and "challenging" to play against.
"I am sure it is possible to beat it. But it has no
room for even slight mistakes," he wrote.
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Danil Ishutin ✔
@DendiBoss
Bot is really fun and challenging to play against :) I am
sure it is possible to beat it . But it have no room for even slight mistakes
9:26 PM - Aug 11, 2017
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This isn't the first time a bot has made waves in the
gaming world. Earlier this year, an AI built by Microsoft beat every level of
the Ms. Pac-Man game -- something no human player has ever achieved.
Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) also played a role in the bot's
Dota 2 win on Friday. Musk thanked the company via Twitter for allowing Open AI
to use the Microsoft Azure crowd computing platform to develop the bot.
11 Aug
Elon Musk ✔
@elonmusk
OpenAI first ever to defeat world's best players in
competitive eSports. Vastly more complex than traditional board games like
chess & Go.
Follow
Elon Musk ✔
@elonmusk
Would like to express our appreciation to Microsoft for
use of their Azure cloud computing platform. This required massive processing
power.
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