Thinking Like a Human: What It Means to Give AI a Theory of Mind

Last month, a team of self-taught AI gamers lost spectacularly against human professionals in a highly-anticipated galactic melee. Taking place as part of the International Dota 2 Championships in Vancouver, Canada, the game showed that in broader strategic thinking and collaboration, humans still remain on top. The AI was a series of algorithms developed by the Elon Musk-backed non-profit OpenAI. Collectively dubbed the OpenAI Five, the algorithms use reinforcement learning to teach themselves how to play the game--and collaborate with each other--from scratch. Unlike chess or Go, the fast-paced multi-player Dota 2 video game is considered much harder for computers.