Playing To Learn: Microsoft Uses Minecraft As Test Ground For AI As part of an experimental version of the game developed by Microsoft, the new platform, called Project Malmo, was designed to train and stimulate an AI to carry out various tasks like crossing bridges and building elaborate objects.

By Pamella de Leon

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Shutterstock.com

Joining the Minecraft gaming scene is artificial intelligence- well, kind of. As part of an experimental version of the game developed by Microsoft, the new platform, called Project Malmo, was designed to train and stimulate an AI to carry out various tasks like crossing bridges and building elaborate objects. The Project Malmo platform allows a learning algorithm to control a Minecraft character normally operated by a person. Another cool aspect? The platform allows and encourages human-AI interaction and collaboration: human players and AI can work together, with even a chat window for the person to talk with an AI. The platform trains an AI by providing tasks and rewards, with a human player coaching instructions that the AI would recognize over time.

Microsoft researchers working on Project Malmo include, from top left, Fernando Diaz, Evelyne Viegas, David Bignell, Alekh Agarwal, Matthew Johnson, Akshay Krishnamurthy, Katja Hofmann and Tim Hutton. Image credit: Scott Eklund/Red Box Pictures.

Lead researcher Katja Hofmann states that by giving an environment for AI to learn to complete a task with room for trial and error, while being rewarded for right choices, it would develop approaches to reinforcement learning. According to Microsoft's blog on the project, the ability for AI to comprehend people similarly to how we understand each other is one of the core aims for the research. Minecraft, which started as an indie game and acquired by Microsoft in 2014, gained popularity from letting its users build complex structures and objects, and with Project Malmo, AI are even taught to craft using tools and resources for building a table or sword, as well as navigating, and mimicking other tasks. Microsoft AI researchers who have tinkered with it can see how others compare to the same environment, based on different theories and variants. It has since launched the open-source experiment for the public, so if you're tech-savvy and into AI, machine learning and robotics, now's your chance to play around with them all.

Related: Microsoft Might Stop Making Gaming Consoles

Wavy Line
Pamella de Leon

Startup Section Editor, Entrepreneur Middle East

Pamella de Leon is the Startup Section Editor at Entrepreneur Middle East. She is keen on the MENA region’s entrepreneurship potential, with a specific interest to support enterprises and individuals creating an impact.

Related Topics

Money & Finance

3 Ways to Create Multiple (Big) Streams of Income

Here are three ways to create multiple streams of income. These strategies require effort and resources but offer significant financial potential.

Branding

How I Made Money From My Book Without Selling a Single Copy

Did you know you can make money with a book without selling copies? Here's exactly how I did it.

Social Media

Why You Actually Should Share Your Instagram Post on Your Instagram Story

Some people think sharing an Instagram post on your Instagram story is redundant. Here's why they're wrong.

Health & Wellness

8 Ways to Improve Your Brain Power

From idea generation and meetings to crunching numbers and copywriting, there are a lot of different situations in which more focus and improved cognitive function would prove beneficial.

Business News

Airbnb Is Suing New York City Over Short-Term Rental Restrictions: 'Extreme and Oppressive'

The home-sharing and vacation rental marketplace is taking action against New York City's Local Law 18 which imposes restrictions on short-term rentals.

Science & Technology

She's Been Coding Since Age 7 and Presented Her Life-Saving App to Tim Cook Last Year. Now 17, She's on Track to Solve Even Bigger Problems.

Angelina Tsuboi, a full-stack mobile and web developer who also happens to be a pilot, has always been solution-oriented.