Artificial intelligence is already able to beat human players at all but the most difficult competitive games. StarCraft 2 is a notable exception, albeit probably not for much longer. But while AI is getting better at playing 1v1 matches against pro players, team games are a different matter altogether. Artificial intelligence doesn’t have a very good track record when it comes to competitive team games but Elon Musk believes that his OpenAI Five neural network will soon change that.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has recently announced that his AI company is currently finishing work on a new neural network that will soon be able to go up against one of the top professional eSports teams in the world. Just as its name suggests, OpenAI Five is an improved version of OpenAI. This is the same bot that has competed against professional eSports players in the past.
Once again, Musk and co. are looking to test their latest AI at the highest competitive level, which is why the neural network will compete in this year’s Dota 2 The International tournament. Dota 2 is arguably the most challenging 5v5 competitive game out there so it’s safe to say that OpenAI Five will have its work cut out for it.
OpenAI Returns to The International
OpenAI is no stranger to the professional eSports scene. The 1v1 bot developed by Musk’s company competed at last year’s The International against Dendi and even managed to defeat him. Dendi is the most well known and one of the best Dota 2 players in the world so his defeat was quite shocking. To say the least. However, defeating a full team of pro players would be an even more impressive feat.
OpenAI Five is already able to beat amateur teams of Dota 2 players. That’s a pretty big step forward but the AI will have the opportunity to face a bigger challenge next month. OpenAI announced that the neural network will go up against top Dota 2 players on July 28th. The match will be streamed live on Twitch and will serve as preparation for The International 2018.
OpenAI is Not Quite Able to Understand All Aspects of the Game
According to the company, OpenAI Five learns by playing against itself, much like its predecessor. The bot is apparently able to play 180 years worth of Dota 2 games every single day. Even so, the neural network isn’t quite able to grasp all the intricacies of Dota 2 yet, though the company is working on integrating more aspects in the near future. As far as the upcoming match at The International is concerned, there will be a number of restrictions in accordance with the AI’s current understanding of the game.
Both the human team and OpenAI Five will only be able to pick 5 out of the 115 available heroes. These include Viper, Sniper, Crystal Maiden, Lich, and Necrophos. Certain items like Divine Rapier, Boots of Travel and even the Quelling Blade will not be available. The list of restrictions also prevents the teams from using wards, illusions, and items or abilities that grant invisibility. Finally, Roshan will also be disabled for the duration of the match.
Dota 2’s The International is moving to Vancouver Canada this year and will take place between August 20-25.