And, like chess and Go, poker requires players to use strategy, intuition and reasoning using secret information – and that was exactly what Libratus and Pluribus were proving impossible for AI systems to do against humans.
Improved AI help players hone their skills and learn the best game strategies, though they also raise ethical questions.
AI is Reinventing Gameplay
Generative AI can bring video games to realms of detail, interaction and personalisation that were previously impossible. Gamers would be able to explore worlds neither as the star nor as the supporting player but as fully developed characters inhabiting a world of other developed characters. The technology is there, and if handled with proper care, it could result in a transformation of games, both of their design and immersion.
Technology can help to ensure competitive and balanced match-ups in online play in multiplayer games by leveraging data about playing style and skill level history to create sophisticated matchmaking algorithms that deliver a challenging yet fun experience for all players.
Lantz thinks generative AI could yield novel ways of playing as well as provide more immersive experiences, perhaps by having players interact with art as it’s being created, or even become co-creators of a game in partnership with the creators or joining in an immersive environment that responds and adapt to player action for a bespoke experience. He also foresees gaming as a way to ‘humanise the AI’ – to de-esoterise the tools of AI technology, so all of us everyday people can use them instead of just coders having privileged access to AI technologies.
AI is Changing the Game
Poker players can use AI to improve gameplay: software programs can track the data from thousands of poker hands and sort it into patterns that you can use to beat your opponents.
AI is already able to track game-play and predict potential outcomes, allowing players to make better decisions and control the level of risk they are willing to take. AI also identifies cheating, thereby keeping the game fair for all players.
AI has already had some notable successes with games, such as chess and Go. But poker is more challenging because humans can bluff. Could AI prove to be a tougher foe than Gary Kasparov? Perhaps. Though poker has also served as an excellent testing ground for novel methods in AI research.
AI is Changing the Rules of the Game
Indeed, it was quite a feat when the very first general game-playing AI ‘bot’ was able to beat three human players to become a champion of a computer science competition in 2005. But it’s still a far cry from dedicated algorithms specially written to help you conquer games of tic-tac-toe, no limit Texas hold’em – or any other game, for that matter.
Such specialised algorithms require supercomputing power and often take hours to solve, but the equilibrium model has to be rebuilt at every interval due to new data sets and the relentless race to stay competitive.
Despite its shortcomings, adoption of AI across the gaming industry is going ahead at a blistering pace. A lot of this success hinges on companies putting in the building blocks and setting the guidelines, be that in regards to transparency and governance of their systems, by making sure they have strong cybersecurity measures and data management regimes in place that protect individual rights, or teaching how to work collaboratively across the organisation so that AI projects are embarked on for the right reasons and clearly connected to other business goals, ensuring value is measured correctly. It’s all about tearing down those silos to give business leaders a different, more comprehensive and farsighted, view of the value AI provides.
AI is Changing the Way We Play
Such poker players have a great advantage over their opponents, who cannot use the AI tools used by those familiar with the medium to analyse their opponents’ indicative moves while playing, reading them for tells, or using the software to further improve their gameplay or profit from it. The same is true regarding cheating at the table. While poker does not have random-number generation, every beat, motion and face in the room is recorded by the artificial-intelligence software that not only analyses it for signs of cheating but also acts upon it – preventing it before it even reaches the cheat.
As poker AI evolves, it could result in a greater ability to compete with challenging and lifelike virtual opponents, who will also be able to play some very good poker in return, and even bluff convincingly. Programmers will be able to create bots that will change their strategy to thwart the effective play of any player who has spent significant time at the poker tables.
AI will also be used to create personalised poker content – video tutorials and training programs for players of all levels – which helps ensure that every player can continue to play and enjoy the game, even if not all have equal skill levels. This is one area where the growing use of AI has raised fears that the use of AI might decrease player skill levels – either intentionally, or unwittingly, which is why regulation might be necessary or at least expected on these issues to keep play fair.
