ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Research → Technology

Artificial Intelligence is now beating us at shooter games

What will they do next?

Mihai AndreibyMihai Andrei
July 6, 2018
in News, Technology
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

Another week, another game that’s taken away from us. After the classics chess and Go succumbed to AIs, a current favorite in computer games — Dota2 — was mastered by machines just a week ago. Now, computer scientists reported that AIs are kicking butt at yet another popular computer game: Quake III.

Screenshot from Quake III.

If you like games where you go out and shoot stuff, then you’re probably familiar with the Quake series. If not, the premise is pretty simple — you roam around a map, you pick up guns, and you shoot your opponents before they shoot you. Rinse and repeat, it’s simplistic but highly addictive.

As it’s been done in previous similar efforts, the machine algorithm (stemming from DeepMind, a Google subsidiary) isn’t given much information on how to play the game — it’s left to its own devices, to figure out strategies on how to win. But DeepMind’s engineers added a twist: they trained a total of 30 agents with different playstyles to introduce a “diversity” of play styles.

So how does the AI learn how to play? By playing a lot — a LOT. In this case, it took nearly half a million games, each lasting about 5 minute, to get the AI to its current level. The robots did not only learn how to play, but they devised the same strategies that human players typically use. A new map was generated procedurally for each game, to make sure that the AIs don’t develop strategies that work on a single map.

Also, programmers didn’t give them any numerical information, they had to learn to play just by “looking” at the screen, similar to how a human player would.

It’s worth noting that the stripped-down version of Quake III that the bots learned is much simpler than Dota2, for instance.

RelatedPosts

Switzerland votes against strict phase-out of nuclear energy
Why Bats Don’t Get Cancer—And What That Could Mean for Us
Early modern humans formed complex social networks to avoid inbreeding as early as 34,000 years ago
Pig’s for dinner: invasive feral hogs helped save Australia’s apex predator from extinction

A graph showing the Elo (skill) rating of various players. The “FTW” agents are DeepMinds. Credit: DeepMind

To test the skill of the newly trained AIs, DeepMind hosted a contest: two-player teams of bots, humans, and a mixture of bots and humans squared off. The bot-only teams were the most successful, winning 74% of the time. However, the more bots researchers added in the team, the worse the team fared, indicating that they lack a specific understanding of team play.

Of course, the purpose of these AIs is not to beat us at out favorite games and take the fun out of everything (even though things sure seem that way sometimes). The goal is to design new ways to teach AIs different concepts more effective — though in this case, teaching bots how to get better at shooting people might not be the most soothing of applications.

ShareTweetShare
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Dr. Andrei Mihai is a geophysicist and founder of ZME Science. He has a Ph.D. in geophysics and archaeology and has completed courses from prestigious universities (with programs ranging from climate and astronomy to chemistry and geology). He is passionate about making research more accessible to everyone and communicating news and features to a broad audience.

Related Posts

Health

Tennis May Add Nearly 10 Years to Your Life and Most People Are Ignoring It

byTibi Puiu
1 day ago
Anthropology

Humans Have Been Reshaping Earth with Fire for at Least 50,000 Years

byTudor Tarita
1 day ago
Biology

The Strangest Microbe Ever Found Straddles The Line Between Life and Non-Life

byTudor Tarita
1 day ago
News

This $8750 Watch Was Designed for Space and Could Finally Replace Apollo-era Omega Watches

byTudor Tarita
1 day ago

Recent news

Tennis May Add Nearly 10 Years to Your Life and Most People Are Ignoring It

July 4, 2025

Humans Have Been Reshaping Earth with Fire for at Least 50,000 Years

July 4, 2025

The Strangest Microbe Ever Found Straddles The Line Between Life and Non-Life

July 4, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.