DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONTIERS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE Visit Scientific American on Facebook and TwitterINSIDE- Thousands of tree species are likely
unknown to science - Mosquitoes see red when they smell
human breath - New process manufactures desired DNA
inside human cells - Gum could protect chewers from COVID
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCEAI Champions
Digital drivers triumph in
ultrarealistic racing gameTo hurtle around a corner along the fast-
est “racing line” without losing control,
race car drivers must brake, steer and
accelerate in precisely timed sequences.
The process depends on the limits of fric-
tion, which are governed by known physi-
cal laws—and self-driving cars can be pro-
grammed to use these laws to drive as
quickly as possible. But this challenge
becomes much trickier when the auto-
mated driver has to share space with other
cars. Now scientists have unraveled the
problem virtually by training an artificial-
intelligence program to outpace human
competitors in the ultrarealistic racing
game Gran Turismo Sport. The results
could provide insights useful for designing
self-driving cars.
Artificial intelligence has already
defeated human players within certain
video games, such as Starcraft II and
Dota 2. But Gran Turismo differs signifi-
cantly, says Peter Wurman, director of
Sony AI America and co-author of the new
study in Nature. “In most games, the envi-
ronment defines the rules and protects
the users from each other,” he explains.
“But in racing, the cars are very close to
each other, and there’s a very refined
sense of etiquette that has to be learned
and deployed by the [AI] agents. To win,
Jon Feingersh/Getty Imagesthey have to be respectful of their oppo-