Researchers Are Using an Unusual Trick to Make A.I. Smarter

In humanity's latest blunder to unwittingly help A.I. take over the world, machine learning researchers have now made 45 hours of video game replays accessible to A.I. programs. Compiled by a collaboration between Germany's Aachen University and Microsoft's Machine Intelligence and Perception Group's research teams, the Atari Grand Challenge Dataset gives A.I. systems access to new ways of learning and improving skills that will help them overthrow humanity, like controlling anti-air guns, tactical evasion, and maneuvering within complex and treacherous environments. Okay, so they actually just got really good Ms. Pacman, Space Invaders, Video Pinball, and lesser-known Atari 2600 games like Q*Bert and Montezuma's Revenge. While we may be safe from the robot revolution for a while yet, these games did prove useful for training computers to learn and hone their skills over time. The masterminds behind the Atari Grand Challenge Dataset invited people to play those five games on their website and then collected data on how well the gamers were doing.