

Computer Learns Game by Reading Manual - abrenzel
http://www.itproportal.com/2011/07/13/computer-system-learns-game-play-reading-manual/

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noonat
The article is sparse on details, but the linked MIT news article goes into
more depth. Of note, the algorithm was able to win 79% of the games it played.
Without textual input, it only won 46%, and a more advanced machine learning
algorithm without textual input only won 62%. Pretty cool.

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shaggyfrog
Won those games against whom? Other copies of itself? The weakest built-in AI?
The strongest built-in AI? A pseudo-random number generator?

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wlievens
Built-in AI. They didn't specify the difficulty level, but knowing Civ games
(can't speak for FreeCiv though), difficulty levels only tweak handicaps and
not the AI algorithms, so the correct choice would be the difficulty level
that has no handicap or bonus for the AI.

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Shenglong
It can read _and_ apply what it's read? This program is already more advanced
than half my graduating high school class.

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cgs1019
Two things come to my mind:

1\. That's gotta be one helluva manual

2\. Reversing the procedure to automate documentation by examining variable
and method names along various code paths would be brilliant.

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nateberkopec
Good thing we're teaching them Civilization - they'll never get out of the
server room.

Teaching ultra-intelligent AI Monopoly, though? - guaranteed robot overlords.

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abrenzel
One might argue that the algorithms used by Wall Street firms to trade the
stock market learned how to play long ago... ;).

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malvosenior
Does that mean if the program read additional texts on Civilization strategy
that it would get even better? How about texts that may be somewhat related
but not specific to the game (combat strategy, world history?!...)

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abrenzel
From the looks of it, the program merely learned the rules of the game by
doing textual analysis of the manual, and maybe got a few strategic hints as
well. As for actually learning to play the game _well_, my sense from the
article is that the program then used more conventional machine learning
techniques to test and adopt winning moves.

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dlwh
I'm somewhat familiar with this work. (My advisor talked to the authors some.
I could be misrepresenting it a little, but not nearly as much as the
article.)

It's not learning to play the whole game. It's learning to cheese (in gaming
parlance) the opponent. The strategy it learns is to build a warrior as fast
as possible and go and attack the enemy's city. If that fails, it almost
always loses. The manual gave it some hint in that direction.

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vectorpush
I am interested in the details regarding how the AI was able to map the manual
to the game controls.

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zalthor
Taking RTFM to the next level. Yes.

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5hoom
The problem occurs when you have to RTFM to your auto-RTFM machine causing the
universe to collapse in some kind of recursive logical singularity.

