ARTIFICIAL GAMER, Saturday Afternoon Screening at IFC in NYC with Q&A
In-person screening of Artificial Gamer, a documentary about OpenAI's efforts to build the most powerful esports bot ever, with Q&A.
** Folks are getting an error whenever we are trying to register on Eventbrite on any of our events, and we are too when we try to add folks manually. If you want to come, please email screenings@artificialgamerfilm.com while we figure this out.***
Humans have been in competition with computer-based Artificial Intelligence for over 80 years in different games — chess, Go, poker, Jeopardy! — a span that tracks the evolution of computing itself. The latest field of battle are hugely popular multiplayer online games that are worldwide sensations, including one of the most lucrative esports of all — Dota 2.
In ARTIFICIAL GAMER, a passionate team of Silicon Valley engineers at San Francisco-based OpenAI is challenged to develop an artificial intelligence bot capable of defeating the world champions of Dota 2 — and given only one year to do it. The outcome could alter the way we think about the frontiers of machine learning and of humanity’s ultimate relationship with AI.
Unlike classic two-player games like chess or Go, in which the field of battle is transparent to all, Dota 2 — which originated as a user-created variation of Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft 3 — involves a series of contingent calculations and hidden information. It’s a multilayered experience cleaved into layers of bluffing, coordinated five-player strategy, and epic psych-outs — a level of gaming considered too sophisticated, too human, if you will, for the traditional reach of computers.
To accomplish their task, the OpenAI Five creators push the boundaries of machine learning, leveraging experimental techniques like “surgery” — a way of extracting and repurposing algorithmic learning — while taking advantage of processing power that can cram 180 years’ worth of Dota play into a single day.
Candid interviews with the OpenAI team members provide an audience-friendly tour through the engineering process of machine learning, while leading academics give the larger context to a technology that is reshaping everyday life in ways we are only beginning to fully appreciate. Unfettered access to the team’s breakthroughs and stumbles gives a rare glimpse into the difficulties of asserting control over the frontier of Artificial Intelligence.
The director and editor of Artificial Gamer Chad Herschberger will be in attendance. Followed by Q&A .
Over the last 25 years Chad Herschberger has worked on projects seen on AMC, History Channel, PBS, HBO, BBC, and festivals including Sundance, HotDocs, and SXSW. Chad recently served as story producer, editor, and animator on AMC’s 6-part series Robert Kirkman’s Secret History of Comics. He was co-producer and editor on the documentary 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene (for IFC); and co-producer and editor on the documentary Kim Swims about leading open water marathon swimmer, Kim Chambers. He co-directed, shot & edited the character study “William Matthews: Drawn to Paint (PBS). Chad is currently directing “Love Ivan” about the complicated 20 year friendship between a father and his daughter’s killer.
Produced by Milkhaus and North of Paradise
In-person screening of Artificial Gamer, a documentary about OpenAI's efforts to build the most powerful esports bot ever, with Q&A.
** Folks are getting an error whenever we are trying to register on Eventbrite on any of our events, and we are too when we try to add folks manually. If you want to come, please email screenings@artificialgamerfilm.com while we figure this out.***
Humans have been in competition with computer-based Artificial Intelligence for over 80 years in different games — chess, Go, poker, Jeopardy! — a span that tracks the evolution of computing itself. The latest field of battle are hugely popular multiplayer online games that are worldwide sensations, including one of the most lucrative esports of all — Dota 2.
In ARTIFICIAL GAMER, a passionate team of Silicon Valley engineers at San Francisco-based OpenAI is challenged to develop an artificial intelligence bot capable of defeating the world champions of Dota 2 — and given only one year to do it. The outcome could alter the way we think about the frontiers of machine learning and of humanity’s ultimate relationship with AI.
Unlike classic two-player games like chess or Go, in which the field of battle is transparent to all, Dota 2 — which originated as a user-created variation of Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft 3 — involves a series of contingent calculations and hidden information. It’s a multilayered experience cleaved into layers of bluffing, coordinated five-player strategy, and epic psych-outs — a level of gaming considered too sophisticated, too human, if you will, for the traditional reach of computers.
To accomplish their task, the OpenAI Five creators push the boundaries of machine learning, leveraging experimental techniques like “surgery” — a way of extracting and repurposing algorithmic learning — while taking advantage of processing power that can cram 180 years’ worth of Dota play into a single day.
Candid interviews with the OpenAI team members provide an audience-friendly tour through the engineering process of machine learning, while leading academics give the larger context to a technology that is reshaping everyday life in ways we are only beginning to fully appreciate. Unfettered access to the team’s breakthroughs and stumbles gives a rare glimpse into the difficulties of asserting control over the frontier of Artificial Intelligence.
The director and editor of Artificial Gamer Chad Herschberger will be in attendance. Followed by Q&A .
Over the last 25 years Chad Herschberger has worked on projects seen on AMC, History Channel, PBS, HBO, BBC, and festivals including Sundance, HotDocs, and SXSW. Chad recently served as story producer, editor, and animator on AMC’s 6-part series Robert Kirkman’s Secret History of Comics. He was co-producer and editor on the documentary 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene (for IFC); and co-producer and editor on the documentary Kim Swims about leading open water marathon swimmer, Kim Chambers. He co-directed, shot & edited the character study “William Matthews: Drawn to Paint (PBS). Chad is currently directing “Love Ivan” about the complicated 20 year friendship between a father and his daughter’s killer.
Produced by Milkhaus and North of Paradise