A team of AI algorithms just crushed humans in a complex computer game
A team of AI algorithms just crushed humans in a complex
computer game
Algorithms capable of collaboration and teamwork can
outmaneuver human teams.
A team of five humans competes with the OpenAI Five.
by Will Knight June 25, 2018
Five different AI algorithms have teamed up to kick human
butt in Dota 2, a popular strategy computer game.
Researchers at OpenAI, a nonprofit based in California,
developed the algorithmic A team, which they call the OpenAI Five. Each
algorithm uses a neural network to learn not only how to play the game, but
also how to cooperate with its AI teammates. It has started defeating amateur
Dota 2 players in testing, OpenAI says.
This is an important and novel direction for AI, since
algorithms typically operate independently. Approaches that help algorithms
cooperate with each other could prove important for commercial uses of the technology.
AI algorithms could, for instance, team up to outmaneuver opponents in online
trading or bidding. Collaborative algorithms might also cooperate with humans.
AI and robotics have been separate fields up to now.
Combining them could transform manufacturing and warehousing— and take AI to
the next level.
OpenAI previously demonstrated an algorithm capable of
competing against top humans at single-player Dota 2. The latest work builds on
this using similar algorithms modified to value both individual and team
success. The algorithms do not communicate directly except through game play.
“What we’ve seen implies that coordination and
collaboration can emerge very naturally out of the incentives,” says Greg
Brockman, one of the founders of OpenAI, which aims to develop artificial
intelligence openly and in a way that benefits humanity. He adds that the team
has tried substituting a human player for one of the algorithms and found this
to work very well. “He described himself as feeling very well supported,”
Brockman says.
Dota 2 is a complex strategy game in which teams of five
players compete to control a structure within a sprawling landscape. Players
have different strengths, weaknesses, and roles, and the game involves
collecting items and planning attacks, as well as engaging in real-time combat.
Pitting AI programs against computer games has become a
familiar means of measuring progress. DeepMind, a subsidiary of Alphabet,
famously developed a program capable of learning to play the notoriously
complex and subtle board game Go with superhuman skill. A related program then
taught itself from scratch to master Go and then chess simply by playing
against itself.
The strategies required for Dota 2 are more defined than
in chess or Go, but the game is still difficult to master. It is also
challenging for a machine because it isn’t always possible to see what your
opponents are up to, and because teamwork is required.
The OpenAI Five learn by playing against various versions
of themselves. Over time, the programs developed strategies much like the ones
humans use—figuring out ways to acquiring gold by “farming” it, for instance,
as well as adopting a particular strategic role or “lane” within the game.
AI experts say the achievement is significant. “Dota 2 is
an extremely complicated game, so even beating strong amateurs is truly
impressive,” says Noam Brown, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh. “In particular, dealing with hidden information in a game as large
as Dota 2 is a major challenge.”
Brown previously worked on an algorithm capable of
playing poker, another imperfect-information game, with superhuman skill (see
“Why poker is a big deal in AI”). If the OpenAI Five team can consistently beat
humans, Brown says, that would be a major achievement in AI. However, he notes
that given enough time, humans might be able to figure out weaknesses in the AI
team’s playing style.
Other games could also push AI further, Brown says. “The
next major challenge would be games involving communication, like Diplomacy or
Settlers of Catan, where balancing between cooperation and competition is vital
to success.”
Comments
Post a Comment