Sony researchers announced that they have developed a new, breakthrough AI (or artificial intelligence) called GT Sophy that is capable of beating 95% of the best Gran Turismo players in the world. The impressive AI managed to master three tracks in Gran Turismo Sport in just a few hours, and within two days, had already surpassed the fastest track times in the world.

GT Sophy, the new AI developed by Sony researchers, is described as “reliably superhuman,” with the ability to beat the top Gran Turismo players in the world. The AI was trained using a method called reinforcement training, which basically rewards the AI for adapting to an unknown environment through trial-and-error.

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One might think that AI would simply bully other drivers to win, but Sony implemented its “reward function” extremely carefully. For example, GT Sophy would be hit with penalties for collisions in order to shape a driving style that didn’t bully players off the road, but could still race aggressively enough to learn and adapt for faster lap times.

Through reinforcement training, GT Sophy was able to navigate around a race track and learn its intricacies in just a few hours. Within a couple of days, it was beating 95% of some of the fastest lap times set by other Gran Turismo players.

Taking things a step further, after 45,000 hours of training, GT Sophy was capable of completely mastering three tracks from Gran Turismo Sport: Dragon Trail Seaside, Lago Maggiore GP and Circuit de la Sarthe.

Naturally, AI would have a far more sophisticated understanding of the tracks than human players, including faster reaction times and perfect recall. Sony put this to the test by pitting GT Sophy against three top esports drivers: Emily Jones, Valerio Gallo, and Igor Fraga. However, none of them were able to beat the AI, but they were all able to learn a few things from GT Sophy.

Jones spoke about the learning experience of being pitted against the AI, stating:

“It was really interesting seeing the lines where the AI would go, there were certain corners where I was going out wide and then cutting back in, and the AI was going in all the way around, so I learned a lot about the lines. Going into turn 1, for example, I was braking later than the AI, but the AI would get a much better exit than me and beat me to the next corner. I didn’t notice that until I saw the AI and was like, ‘Okay, I should do that instead.”

Sony says they’re planning on implementing GT Sophy for future Gran Turismo titles.

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Source: Sony AI