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- A team of human pro gamers have beaten a team of AI bots created by an AI company cofounded by Elon Musk.
- The team of bots have previously consistently defeated non-professional players at the game.
- The bots still have the chance to steal victory in the next two matches.
When AI research company's OpenAI's team of bots first defeated a teams of puny humans at the video game Dota 2 in June, Bill Gates hailed it as a "milestone." However, when pitched against professional players, the bots were defeated - at least in an initial match.
We first saw the news via The Verge.
OpenAI, which was cofounded by the famously AI-fearful Elon Musk, created the five neural networks called OpenAI Five with the intention of building an AI which could learn to cooperate with each other and defeat human players. The AI trains itself by playing 180 years' worth of games against itself every day.
On Wednesday the bots put this training to the test, playing against a professional South American team called paiN Gaming at the esports event The International in Vancouver. The match lasted 51 minutes and was by all accounts tense.
AI researcher Mike Cook commented on Twitter that while the bots seemed good at moment-to-moment decision-making, they had trouble with larger strategic decisions.
The Verge reports that one key mistake made by the bots was fixating on a non-player neutral character named Roshan, who can be killed for big rewards. The bots focussing their efforts on him left their home territory vulnerable to attack from the human players.
Mike Cook also observed that the bots differed from human players in that they were more willing to sacrifice their team-mates where beneficial.
OpenAI's cofounder and CTO Greg Brockman praised both team's performances in a tweet.
There are still two matches to go and the bots could still snatch the victory. Business Insider has contacted OpenAI to ask how they feel their bots will fare in their next two games.
#OAI Snap thoughts:
🔹 The bots are a lot less aggressive than before. They feel worse than the previous exhibition, I think (but still, amazing).
🔹 The bots are still very good at moment-to-moment, but they seem bad at macro-level decisions. I have more to say on this!
- mike cook (@mtrc) August 23, 2018
A nice exhibit there of how bots differ from humans: Gyrocopter, who has the second life from killing Rosh, is left to die by the bots because they know he can't be saved. Humans do something called "save your buddy" syndrome where people die trying to save others. Not bots. #OAI
- mike cook (@mtrc) August 23, 2018
Congratulations to Team paiN, the Dota 2 pro team who just beat OpenAI Five in a 51 minute game. Lots of extremely exciting plays by both teams. Has been a great showcase of what both humans and AIs can do.
- Greg Brockman (@gdb) August 23, 2018