Artificial Intelligence Beats Online Gaming Champion

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Category: Technology/Innovations

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Unlocking Word Meanings

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

  1. bot / bɒt / (n) – a software or program that can be programmed to perform tasks on the Internet
    Example:

    Some programmers create bots to manage social media accounts.


  2. head-to-head / ˈhɛd təˈhɛd / (adj) – competing against each other
    Example:

    The chess player trained hard for the head-to-head competition with his rival.


  3. gain the upper hand / geɪn ðiˈʌp ər hænd / (idiom) – to be in a better situation than someone else
    Example:

    He gained the upper hand in the game when his opponent made a mistake.


  4. concede / kənˈsid / (v) – to accept defeat before a competition ends
    Example:

    The player conceded when he had no more moves.


  5. real-time / ˈril-ˈtaɪm / (adj) – happening as soon as a computer gets and processes information
    Example:

    Live stream in social media can show you a real-time footage of the contest.


Article

Read the text below.

An Artificial Intelligence (AI) bot has defeated online gaming champion, Dendi, in a head-to-head game.


A professional gamer since he was 17, Dendi is celebrated as one of the world’s bests. With his team, he took home several online gaming awards, including a gold medal in The International Dota 2 Championships in 2011.


Recently, the gamer had a one-on-one battle against a bot from OpenAI [OH-puh n ahy], an organization funded by business tycoon, Elon Musk. The first game ended in 10 minutes, with the bot gaining the upper hand. Dendi also lost in the second match after conceding to the bot.


After the game, Musk congratulated OpenAI’s bot for being the first to defeat a champion in the complex online game. Unlike Google’s AI that recently defeated a board game champion, OpenAI’s bot won in Dota 2, a real-time strategy game in which players need to predict each other’s moves. OpenAI’s engineers boasted that the bot learned the game on its own in two weeks by battling with itself.


Critics say, however, that Dendi and the bot were not evenly matched. They said that the bot was programmed with Dota 2 information, which the human player did not have access to. With this information, it took the bot only seconds to come up with a strategy that human players learn through years of practice.


AI’s quick progress in recent years has stirred fear in many. Even Musk, who helped fund AI research, has been vocal about his belief that AIs may become dangerous when not properly regulated. He added that he continues to be a patron of AI developers to watch AI’s progress closely.


Viewpoint Discussion

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A

• In what situations does an AI become dangerous? Discuss.
• What should AI researchers do to prevent AI bots or programs from harming people? Discuss.

Discussion B

• Do you think that AI abilities should be compared to human abilities? Why or why not?
• In what ways are humans better than AI? Discuss.