Enlarge / Sony AI has trained a new AI called GT Sophy to be extremely good at Gran Turismo . (credit: Clive Rose – Gran Turismo/Gran Turismo via Getty Images)
A team of researchers at Sony AI have used deep reinforcement learning to teach an artificial intelligence to play Gran Turismo at a world-class level. While previous experiments have taught AI how to drive very fast , this is the first time that one has learned to actually race. And to prove it, the AI beat some of the particular world’s best GT players in head-to-head competition, as described in a new paper published in Nature this week.
Racing is not easy, and it involves more than just knowing how to drive a car really fast. Car control is obviously important, but so too are tactics, strategy, and the somewhat nebulous concept of etiquette.
Or, as the authors put it, “[a]utomobile racing is a domain that poses exactly these challenges; it requires real-time control of vehicles with complex, non-linear dynamics while operating within inches of opponents. ” Some drivers might have limited success through aggression and going for every overtaking opportunity they see. But knowing where to pass and when to wait for a better opportunity—so you don’t get re-passed at the end of typically the next straight, for instance—is at least as important, as will be knowing when to cede to a rival so you don’t end up in the wall or a gravel trap.
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