The International is a big show; hosted by Valve every year, the event attracts a big crowd mesmerized by one of the largest prize pools of any eSports tournament in the world. In 2017, OpenAI – the AI research firm partially funded by Elon Musk – showed up at the event to showcase its bot playing 1v1 matches against a few professionals, albeit with quite a lot of restrictions.
In a blog post, OpenAI has announced that it will be taking the next leap in 2018 by pitting its AI in a 5v5 face off against a team of pro players at The International 2018 in August.
A few changes had to be made to how the AI works as the 5v5 setting requires teamwork. The bots were trained to have “team spirit” by using a method called reinforcement learning. OpenAI states that its bots have collected 180 years worth of experience playing against themselves every day.
However, before the big face off at The International, the nonprofit will be hosting a match against top players on July 28. OpenAI is providing invites to that event – for those in San Francisco – and will also stream it live on Twitch.
It’s likely that the bots will win though, as they have already won against five human teams during testing, one of which consisted Valve employees. William “Blitz” Lee, who casted that game, noted that that match might have been his “fastest casting gig.”
If you wish to read more about OpenAI’s work, the blog post details the process and what the AI is capable of in detail.