This artificial intelligence teaches robots to walk--by creating custom obstacle courses

Before you run hurdles, you have to learn to crawl, and before you read William Shakespeare, you need to know the alphabet. Any educator knows the importance of a step-by-step lesson plan for mastering a task. Now, researchers at Uber AI Labs have designed an algorithm that comes up with its own curriculum for teaching simulated robots to cross difficult terrain, without falling flat on their faceless bodies. The algorithm might one day even help autonomous vehicles react in emergency situations. The new program, called Paired Open-Ended Trailblazer (POET) first comes up with a set of unique terrains, each inhabited by a computer-controlled character.