Game Tech: Google’s Chess Experiments Reveal How to Boost the Power of AI
His group decided to find out. They built the new, diversified version of AlphaZero, which includes multiple AI systems that trained independently and on a variety of situations. The algorithm that governs the overall system acts as a kind of virtual matchmaker, Zahavy said: one designed to identify which agent has the best chance of succeeding when it’s time to make a move. He and his colleagues also coded in a “diversity bonus”—a reward for the system whenever it pulled strategies from a large selection of choices.When the new system was set loose to play its own games, the team observed a lot of variety. The diversified AI player experimented with new, effective openings and novel—but sound—decisions about specific strategies, such as when and where to castle. In most matches, it defeat...