Sony AI x Polyphony Digital introduce Sophy, a ‘revolutionary’ game AI

[Gizmo_Duck]

Sony's AI Drives a Race Car Like a Champ

The company built GT Sophy to master the game Gran Turismo, but it may help the development of real self-driving cars.

Gran Turismo Sophy is a revolutionary racing AI agent that has learned to master the PlayStation® game and driving simulator, Gran TurismoTM (GT) Sport. Through training, Gran Turismo Sophy acquired racing skills to challenge and outrace some of the world’s championship-level GT drivers.

“Sophy is very fast, with lap times better than expected for the best drivers.”

TAKUMA MIYAZONO, CHAMPION ESPORTS RACER

This breakthrough has been one of the key challenges Sony AI has worked on since its inception in April 2020. Over the past two years, our team has been working closely with Polyphony Digital (PDI) - the creator and developer of the Gran Turismo franchise - and the cloud gaming team at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) to develop Gran Turismo Sophy. Gran Turismo Sophy learns through novel deep reinforcement learning techniques to race at the highest level. It is trained using the cloud gaming infrastructure managed by SIE for massive scale training.

What Makes Gran Turismo Sophy a Unique AI Challenge?

The first important point is that racing requires drivers to control physical systems at their limits. Racing is essentially trying to drive cars at the edge of control or just beyond. Estimating braking points, finding the best line, searching for grip on the track to maximize speed and control are by itself very interesting Machine Learning problems, but racing means that you are not alone on the track. Other drivers impact the dynamics of the car through drafting effects that can help reach speeds higher than the actual top-speed of the car. But they can also drastically increase the braking distance due to reduced down force.

Then there are all the tactical aspects which are built on top of the highly dynamic control problem. Racers have to find lines to pass their opponents taking into account the opponent's reaction to the overtake attempts. That turns racing into a complex back and forth between opponents including defend and pretend behaviors as well as pushing the limits on the racing lines, braking and acceleration points.

Last but not least, racing drivers need to adhere to specific rules that govern how far drivers can skid off the track and who gets blamed when a collision occurs. Stewards look at critical race situations and determine potential time penalties for drivers. The rules are imprecisely specified and open to interpretation. That makes them difficult to encode and difficult to optimize for directly. There is also a concept of fair play in racing. Racing should be engaging and fun. Collisions should not be used as a tool to win races. At the same time, racers need to drive aggressively to win. Finding the right balance is a real challenge.

This is essentially a cloud-based machine learning AI. While its being used for Gran Turismo now its something sony will probably using in its other games in the future.

 

[Fatboi1]

Last Sophy I knew was a jump off

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

i gues ssony is planning on using this technology in their own cars as well

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

People that want innovative next gen stuff, this is it.

 

[Khalil's_Black_Excellence]

Last Sophy I knew was a jump off

Stop lying. You ain't know no jump offs, fool.

 

[Fatboi1]

Stop lying. You ain't know no jump offs, fool.

 

[levitate]

Last Sophy I knew was a jump off

Ass was phat?

 

[Fctftl]

Last Sophy I knew was a jump off

Backyard bangin like a Benzi?

 

[Diondon]

So does this mean the computer drivers won't be these always perfect, never making mistakes a$$holes

 

[Killer Instinct]

Sony continuing to move the industry forward.

 

[Fatboi1]

Ass was phat?

Backyard bangin like a Benzi?