TECHNOLOGY
AI that can master different types of games is built
WORDS KEUMARS AFIFI-SABET
Student of Games can master both information-perfect games like Go and information-imperfect games like Scotland Yard
© NASA; ESA; JWST / Getty
Researchers have built the first general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that can master a wide variety of games, dubbed ‘Student of Games’. Game algorithms are normally designed to master either information-perfect games like Go or chess, in which each player has all the information, or information-imperfect games like poker, in which some information is hidden from other players. This is because the process of training the algorithms has historically been different for the two types of games. The former uses search and learning, while the latter uses game-theoretic reasoning and learning. But the new Student of Games algorithm gets around this limitation by combining guided search, selfplay learning and game-theoretic reasoning.