AI driver can beat some of the world's best players at Gran Turismo

An artificial intelligence has beaten four of the world's best human drivers on three different tracks in the racing video game Gran Turismo Sport, by gaining ground at the most difficult parts of a track. The AI, named GT Sophy, was able to execute tactical moves such as using an opponent's slipstream to boost itself forwards and block its opponents from passing. Peter Wurman at Sony AI in New York and his colleagues trained the system using deep reinforcement learning, a type of machine learning that uses rewards and penalties to teach the AI's neural network how to win. During training, GT Sophy, which was running on a separate computer, played the game on up to 20 PlayStation 4 consoles simultaneously. The team gave the AI the ability to accelerate, brake and steer, along with real-time information on the position of the cars in the game, including its own, and a map of the next 6 seconds of the track, which meant sight of a longer distance ahead when the AI travelled faster.