Don’t Take the Possibility of an AI Singularity Lightly

If the things carry on like this, it is not as much of a far fetched hypothesis as many people tend to believe.

Well, the breaking news this time is that a team of AI researchers from Korea and Germany has successfully fabricated an AI-powered curling robot that can even put the best players of the Curling game to shame.

The team had published a paper in the journal titled “Science Robotics,” in which they illustrate how they were able to achieve a workable design, how the design was implemented, how the robot was trained, and how brilliantly it performed when it competed against the professional human players.

A man named Johannes Stork with Orebro University has also given his opinion in the Focus piece in which he has talked about the work done by the researchers. The Focus piece was also published in the same journal- “Science Robotics.”

Let me tell you something about the curling game. It is a strategic game involving two teams competing against each other on an ice surface. Players from the respective team take their turns in shoving and turning a large shiny stone with its weight ranging between 16 to 21 kg. They maneuver the stone and try to mobilize it down a straight path with an intention to direct it towards a specific center target, which is not more than 50 meters away (approximately). To win the game, opponents play dirty by displacing the stone of the other team out of the target position. After the game ends, points are calculated based on the stone’s location in and around its target area. Teams can also use brooms to make the surface friction-free in order to reduce the possibility of an elongated journey of the stone.

The planning, strategies, and pep-talks are given in between the throws.

Curling is not an easy game to master, as it requires enormous body strength and a sound strategic mind. The robot built by German and Korean researchers can perform the stone throw with precision and can also masterfully calculate where exactly and with what speed it has to throw the stone. Of course, it cannot do the necessary broom work, which is necessary for the game, but it does have the camera, which enables it to calculate the position, timing, and strength of its next throw.

The machine learning involved in the programming used a simulated gaming situation to enhance the intelligence of the robot with respect to the curling game.

The robot was matched against a team comprising a women professional team and a team with physically disabled players who played seated on their wheelchairs. The robot which they have named “curly” comprehensively defeated them, sweeping three out of the four rounds. The researchers felt that the robot was better suited to the competition with the differently-abled wheelchaired players who also, unfortunately, do not have the luxury of the brooms in their own professional matches.

The AI researchers claimed that the robot was also put in a team consisting of fit human players with humans doing the brooming job and the robot throwing the stone. The researchers observed that it very well increased the accuracy of the stone throw and the overall productivity of the team.

A “curling” game is ok, but we are walking on a wobbly surface. We all know what the likes of Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have warned us about AI’s.    

Have you seen Terminator? Westworld? You very well know where all of this can lead to.

If somebody figures out a way to make them sentient, they will not stay content in playing the “curling” game for a long time, if you know what I mean.

Harry Williams is an inventive person who has been doing intensive research in particular topics and writing blogs and articles for AOI Tech Solutions on Norton, Webroot, McAfee, Microsoft Office and many other related topics. and many other related topics. He is a very knowledgeable person with lots of experience.

SOURCE : Don’t Take the Possibility of an AI Singularity Lightly