Google’s AI company DeepMind has achieved a remarkable feat in the realm of robotics by creating a robot capable of playing table tennis at a level close to professional standards. This groundbreaking achievement was the result of extensive research and development, where the AI-powered robot was pitted against human players of varying skill levels, ranging from beginners to advanced.
The robot, following standard table tennis rules with modifications to accommodate its inability to serve, engaged in three-game matches against each human opponent. The results were impressive, with the robot winning 45% of matches and 46% of games overall. It displayed dominance against beginners, winning all matches, and achieving a 55% win rate against intermediate players. However, it struggled against advanced players, losing all matches in this category.
Despite its success, the robot did exhibit vulnerabilities, particularly against advanced players who exploited weaknesses in its gameplay. A common weakness noted was its difficulty in handling underspin, a technique often used by experienced players.
The ability of DeepMind’s robot to compete at this level is a significant milestone, considering the years of training required for humans to master table tennis. This complex sport demands a combination of intricate physical skills and strategic gameplay, making it a challenging domain for AI development. DeepMind emphasizes the strategic complexity of table tennis, contrasting it with purely strategic games like chess and Go.
This achievement follows recent news of DeepMind’s new AI models, AlphaProof and AlphaGeometry 2, successfully solving four out of six problems in the 2024 International Math Olympiad. While these models solved one problem within minutes, the remaining three took up to three days, exceeding the competition’s time limit.
The development of these AI-powered robots and models demonstrates DeepMind’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI capabilities and its potential for revolutionizing various fields, including sports, education, and problem-solving.
