A New 'Gym' for Building and Testing A.I. - Dice Insights

If you're interested in working with machine learning and artificial-intelligence algorithms--but unsure of how to start--check out the OpenAI Gym, now in beta. The premise behind OpenAI Gym is simple: it's a toolkit for building reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms, which govern bots' decision-making and motor-control capabilities. Reinforcement learning is a key element in A.I. development, as it allows software to deal with random, unpredictable environments; one "classic" problem involves balancing an untethered pole on a rolling cart: OpenAI is a non-profit "artificial intelligence research company" funded by some heavy hitters in the tech world, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Its altruistic goal is to develop open-source A.I. software that's "friendly" to humanity. According to a blog posting accompanying the launch of OpenAI Gym, RL research is slowed by two factors: a need for better benchmarks, and a lack of standardization of environments used in publications.