In 2020, Sony established Sony AI to focus on developing artificial intelligence. And one of its first breakthroughs has now been announced: the development of really smart AI drivers that can race, and beat, the best Gran Turismo Sport players in the world.
Gran Turismo Sophy is an AI agent, which Sony AI has helped it learn to not only drive cars in Gran Turismo Sport, but drive and race as fast as it could.
There are many similar AI projects that have been created for the sole reason of beating human players. Chess, Go, Shogi, as well as video games Dota and Starcraft have been the subject of such research. But no one has done a racing sim before, which involves not only decision-making at rapid speeds, but also adapting to vehicle dynamics, and the challenge of overtaking and defending positions.
GT Sophy has to learn car control (taking account of physics that can change the dynamics of a car at any particular moment), racing tactics (how to overtake or use slipstream for a boost), and most importantly, racing etiquette (in the wise words of the GT Sport narrator: “don’t make yourself look bad”).
The development saw a close collaboration with Sony AI and Gran Turismo Sport developers Polyphony Digital, as well as making use of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s cloud gaming platform to enable the machine learning process. A more detailed look at all the tech works can be found here, and it involves specific learning processes and a server of PS4s.
The true test started around July of 2021, where select players (most of which have competed in the FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Championships- the pinnacle of Gran Turismo esports) competed against GT Sophy in what is dubbed Race Together.
The first event was held in-house at Polyphony’s headquarters in Tokyo, so the best of the Japanese players (including 2020 triple champion Takuma Miyazono) were in attendance to represent the Gran Turismo Top Drivers. Four players versus four GT Sophy agents (all named based on different colours, as it’s called in French) in a three-race championship, following the format of the FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Championships.
You can watch the whole three races here. You can see that when it comes to qualifying, GT Sophy easily beats any of the best player’s time, some with a large margin as 3 seconds.
Though they drive a bit inhuman at times. You can see the GT Sophys wobbling and twitching on a straight line, or making really erratic moves as they go side-by-side, and doesn’t want to deviate even an inch from their driving line.
But that was not the only race. The Race Together event was held again in October, with the Sony AI returning with a revamped GT Sophy, facing against the same drivers in the same track and car combination. And it’s a stark improvement: the AI drives more smoothly and can fight back for positions, something the drivers noted to feel “humanlike”.
Though it’s still not perfect. Ironically, despite the smoother driving line GT Sophy agents are taking, the second event was filled with more racing incidents. There’s still work to be done in the racing etiquette department- like leaving a space for your opponent to go when you are overtaking them. But in the end, GT Sophy took the overall win, beating the humans. Which was the aim of the project.
For context, the Gran Turismo series was never known for smart AI drivers. Fans would more remember the AI to be driving in their pre-determined racing line without fail in a conga-line, even if it means ramming you out of the way.
So to see AIs in Gran Turismo doing that, to reach the level that only a handful of the best GT players in the world can match, created by a dedicated team of AI researchers, is quite a bit overkill. But it’s a project that Sony AI are in a unique position to create. So might as well take that opportunity.
And hey, it may lead to good, or better, AI in games in the future. The drivers that faced GT Sophy are excited to see that they haven’t been driving at the limit and want to learn how the AI drive so fast. Plus, Sony AI and Polyphony are looking at how they can add the AI into upcoming Gran Turismo games.
Sony AI have other, more practical projects in the works, covering the areas of Gastronomy, Imaging & Sensing and AI Ethics. But if they do want to make smarter AI for more video games, by all means. More fun for us gamers.
Source: Sony AI, Gran Turismo