Why It Matters That Artificial Intelligence Is About to Beat the World's Best Poker Players

If you've ever left a poker table penniless, you definitely don't want to go up against Libratus. Built by a computer science professor and a graduate student, the artificial intelligence system is handily beating pro poker players in a Texas hold'em tournament in Pittsburgh. Two weeks into the 20-day heads up (or one-on-one), no-limit tournament, Libratus is up by more than a million dollars on its human counterparts. The A.I. system was designed by Tuomas Sandholm, a professor at Carnegie Mellon, and his student, Noam Brown. A.I. systems have already wiped the floor with humans at a number of games.