7 August, 2018
Musk has spoken before about the need to develop a symbiotic relationship with machines before it’s too late. He said in late 2016 that the “evil dictator A.I.” will prove powerless if “we are the A.I. collectively,” which can be achieved “by improving the neural link between your cortex and your digital extension of yourself.” He founded Neuralink to tackle this issue, which has kept a low profile bar one explainer about neural links in April 2017. A March report claimed the firm planned to test on animals at one stage.
Shocking both professional players and Dota 2 coaching staff alike, OpenAI’s win sounds like a big step toward something more significant. Still, it’s worth noting that reaching these goals took a lot of processing power. The team used 128,000 processor cores and 256 graphics processors to train on what’s called “Proximal Policy Optimization.” The team stated that it’s tackling Dota 2 based on the belief that “systems which solve complex video games will be highly general, with applications outside of games.”
Musk, who has highlighted the accelerating advancement of these technologies, wants to act before it’s too late. Neuralink claimed in 2017 it will launch a product “that helps with certain severe brain injuries (stroke, cancer lesion, congenital)” by around 2021, one step toward more ambitious projects. Beyond these projects, Musk has called on state governors to regulate A.I. and provide public oversight.
OpenAI’s victory may seem impressive, but Musk may not be celebrating too hard. Ahead of the match, he told one Twitter user that he wanted the humans to emerge victorious.
(Image – wikimedia)
