DeepMind has developed a way for AI programs to learn how to team up effectively in a simple video game. Most strikingly, the AI agents can also collaborate with human players—and those players say the programs are better teammates than most people.
Team players: Researchers at DeepMind trained teams of AI agents to play a game of capture the flag in a modified version of the first-person shooter Quake III Arena. Teamwork is extremely difficult to develop effectively in AI programs, because it involves dealing with a complex and ever-changing situation.
Winning formula: The researchers used an algorithm, dubbed “For the Win,” that trains a host of agents in parallel using reinforcement learning, a machine-learning technique modeled on the way animals learn. A few tricks helped optimize and tune the process.
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