Experience Next-Level Competition With Sony’s Advanced AI in Gran Turismo

After two years of intense training, Sony’s AI race driver “Sophy” is ready to challenge the world’s top Gran Turismo drivers. Nicknamed “Sophy,” this virtual racer has acquired expert proficiency in driving lines and precision maneuvers within the game.

It also learned racing etiquette, such as the unwritten rules of sportsmanship and respecting other drivers’ driving lines. It defeated some of the most talented human competitors in GT Sport and won several races.

Experience Next-Level Competition in ‘Gran Turismo’

The Gran Turismo series has long been promoted as a gateway to motorsports or esports careers. Players who won events in Gran Turismo could earn enough money to purchase their first car and compete in real-world races. Plus, it had official FIA backing with lavish production and events featuring top-tier drivers to give aspiring gamers an edge when starting out in driving careers.

But now, the series’ esports success appears to be waning. Current and former competitors agree that the sport has become too dependent on those with money to enter the highest levels of competition – similar to real-world motorsport where only those wealthy enough can afford to take part in elite competitions.

Due to this, the FIA GTC has become a niche series that draws only a select group of drivers. This is because, despite its many features, the game lacks classic competitive elements found in other racing games like battles against AI drivers.

Sony and Polyphony Digital collaborated on Gran Turismo Sophy, an AI racing agent designed by Polyphony Digital that is trained to mimic real-world racing techniques such as slipstreaming, crossover passes and defensive blocking. Furthermore, this system can make split second decisions under highly dynamic race conditions.

GT Sophy was tested against four of the world’s greatest drivers, including former FIA Formula 3 championship champion Igor Fraga, Takuma Miyazono and Shotaro Ryu. In all three challenges, however, the system came out on top by a wide margin, easily outlasting humans by an overwhelming margin.

When asked his opinion of the GT Sophy experience, Miyazono expressed that it “felt great to see an AI take down some of the top human drivers so quickly.” He found it remarkable that their agent had no prior knowledge of the game yet learned all its strategies after only a few weeks of racing.

Reinforcement learning was used by the AI system to master the game, beginning with an untrained system that didn’t know what to do and eventually working its way up until it could beat all other drivers in competition. This feat represented a drastic departure from how most driver AI systems are trained today, which usually start out with pre-trained strategies created through deep learning.

This method may be more expensive than other ways of teaching an AI to perform a task, but it can teach the system new ways to complete that particular task. Furthermore, training an AI to recognize its own emotions helps it respond quickly when something goes awry.

For example, if a driver feels threatened by another, the AI may decide to swerve out of its way, potentially creating a collision and harming both drivers. After recovering from that swerve, it must attempt again.

To make this possible, the team created a complex data structure designed for high flexibility and adaptation to track and car dynamics. Furthermore, an AI agent was trained to avoid collisions, respect other drivers on the track, as well as drive fairly. While its behavior isn’t perfect yet, it shows promise to become an invaluable addition to Gran Turismo franchise.

‘Gran Turismo”s Advanced AI

Over the last two years, Sony AI and Polyphony Digital (the creators of Gran Turismo video game series) have been working on a project that would revolutionize how players experience racing games. The results have been so remarkable that it was featured in Nature journal – one of the world’s premier scientific publications.

GT Sophy was programmed by a deep reinforcement learning platform, equipping it with racing tactics and driver etiquette. As such, this agent can now drive in real-time and make split second decisions when racing at high speeds.

For instance, it was able to slipstream other cars and perform crossover passes. Furthermore, it learned how to avoid collisions and respect other drivers on the track.

The team has been continuously working to enhance their AI agent and make it more user-friendly. To that end, they are bringing this cutting-edge technology to ‘Gran Turismo’ with an update that includes a brand-new ‘Race Together’ mode for GT7 launching on February 20th from 10 pm Pacific time until March.

“Race Together” offers players a selection of AI teammates based on player skill profiles and loyalty stats. Not only does this make it easier to locate a partner, but the mode also pushes players beyond their comfort level by teaching them new driving techniques and strategies.

These teammates can range in skill level and driving ability, so it is essential to find an ally who will not take shortcuts. Furthermore, select teammates who are loyal to you so they will follow instructions closely while earning their share of points along the way.

Gran Turismo’s Advanced AI can help you stay ahead of the competition, as it’s designed to coach and provide you with all of the tools necessary for victory. Plus, if there’s anything holding you back on a certain racetrack or car, Gran Turismo even takes initiative in improving your driving skills!

To train ‘Gran Turismo’s AI, its developers and the Sony AI team collaborated with Polyphony Digital to design a deep reinforcement learning system that could learn through trial-and-error. This approach ensured the AI agent was rewarded when successful and punished when not.

They achieved this by crafting a racing style that was aggressive enough to beat other players but didn’t leave them feeling intimidated off the track – something many worry about with the rise of artificial intelligence.

Therefore, the team behind ‘Gran Turismo’s’ Race Together mode hopes that players will gain a better insight into the current AI technology and decide if they want to incorporate it into their gaming life. If the AI seems rude, unfair and unbeatable, this could be an indication that it may not be ready for primetime yet.