Nautilus

Computers Beat Humans at Poker. Next Up: Everything Else?

Just a human: Libratus’s success in poker is yet another triumph for artificial intelligence over the species that created it. Photograph by arsenik/Getty

ver the span of 20 days early this year, artificial intelligence encountered a major test of how well it can tackle problems in the real world. A program called Libratus took on four of the best poker players in the country, at in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They were playing a form of poker called heads-up no-limit Texas hold ‘em, where two players face off, often online, in a long series of hands, testing each other’s strategies, refining their own, and bluffing like mad. After 120,000 hands, Libratus emerged with an overwhelming victory over all four opponents, winning . “I’m not accusing it of cheating. It was just that good.”

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Nautilus

Nautilus3 min read
Humpback Whales Caught Humping
Two photographers in Maui, out on a boat, spotted a pair of humpback whales in January 2022. They cut the engine and drifted, as the whales approached their boat and began to circle, just 15 feet or so below the surface. Dipping their cameras a foot
Nautilus5 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
Scientists and Artists as Storytelling Teams
This article is part of series of Nautilus interviews with artists, you can read the rest here. Zoe Keller is an artist on a mission to capture the beauty of biodiversity before it’s too late. Working in both graphite and digital media, she meticulou
Nautilus7 min read
The Unseen Deep-Sea Legacy of Whaling
First come the sleeper sharks and the rattails and the hagfish, scruffily named scavengers of the sea, along with amphipods and crabs who pluck delicately at bits of flesh. Tiny worms, mollusks, and crustaceans arrive in their hordes of tens of thous

Related