Microsoft Claims Its Artificial Intelligence Is a Ms. Pac-Man Whiz

Microsoft's artificial intelligence technology, it turns out, is a whiz at playing Ms. Pac-Man, the 1980's-era video game. The tech giant's computers achieved a perfect score of 990,900, surpassing the existing (human held) record of 266,360. To score points, players must maneuver Ms. Pac-Man around a maze, avoiding "ghosts" that could knock her out or confronting the ghosts head on after eating an energy pellet that makes her temporarily invincible. Yes it sounds silly, but it's also addictive. Related: In Poker, It's Man vs. Machine, and the Machine Is Winning Researchers at Maluuba, the Montreal-based AI startup Microsoft (msft) acquired early this year, split up the technology it used to play the game among more than 150 different artificial intelligence software agents.