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Sony AI creates a new super-human racing agent that can ‘see’ using Gran Turismo 7

cormack12

Gold Member
Source: https://traxion.gg/how-sony-ai-crea...cing-agent-that-can-see-using-gran-turismo-7/
(....much more at link)

Sony AI has created yet another autonomous racing agent, this time using Gran Turismo 7 to evaluate what it calls the ’first super-human car racing agent’ with local inputs. In other words, it can ‘see’ the pixels around it and act accordingly.

When Gran Turismo Sophy launched within Gran Turismo 7 for the public in late 2023, the artificial intelligence-powered agent was a revelation. Your opponents could attack, defend and avoid possible incidents in a more naturalistic way.

A key differentiation between the pre-programmed ‘AI’ that many are used to, and an agent such as GT Sophy, is its ability to adapt to context.

It has been the culmination of nearly five years of work, so far, with the July 2024 Gran Turismo 7 update expanding the track roster it can race on.

“However, when we train GT Sophy, we provide it with very precise information about where it is on the track; the track shape, its exact velocity, its acceleration and where other cars are.

“So there’s a difference there in terms of what Sophy takes in and what human players take in.

“What we wanted to explore is if we could train an agent that works on image inputs.”

The new AI ‘looks’ out of the vehicle and interprets what it can ‘see’, experiencing the velocity in combination with data in the form of the exact speed.

Consequently, the aim is to match what humans have access to when playing the game, with the image helping to explain the shape of the track. Unlike GT Sophy, it is not fed information such as the precise track shape, tyre slip angle (and slip ratio) or the wheel load.

Gran-Turismo-7-Sony-AI-guided-image-1024x576.jpg


“Given some training time, the algorithm learns to focus on relevant parts of the image to satisfy that goal. On a straight section, the AI focuses on what is coming up in the distance.

“Whereas if it’s looking at a corner, the pink marking dots [used to determine its focus] might line up on the edges of the track to help it stay within the course limits.”

The net result, so far, is an agent that can deliver roughly similar times to the existing GT Sophy but without the requirement of external instrumentation. This is the creation of the first super-human simulated car racing agent with local sensor input.

You can’t help but get the feeling, however, that the Sony AI team would like to push the boundaries even further.


TL: DR

Sony AI’s latest autonomous racing agent at a glance​

  • The Sony AI team used PlayStations and Gran Turismo 7 to evaluate the exploratory agent, but it is not confirmed for a public release
  • A different AI agent to Gran Turismo Sophy, currently in the research phase
  • The first vision-based super-human simulated car racing agent
  • It can out-pace the best Gran Turismo drivers on the planet on a single-lap
  • Unlike GT Sophy – which is reliant on external instrumentation such as precise track shape information, slip angle, slip ratio and wheel load (among others) – the new agent can ‘see’ pixels (the ‘image’) through an ‘ego-centric camera view’ alongside receiving velocity and acceleration information.
 

BlackTron

Member
Well this will be great for that player assist feature they were talking about. The AI should be smart enough to know what hand I used to grab a piece of pizza and only fill in the inputs for that hand. And also know when to shut the hell up because I'm done with what I was doing and ready to play now (twice per minute). It should also predict when I'm going to ragequit based on behavior and respond with a little J extending from a door in the controller.

I also want the AI to change my voice to Toad from Mario Kart 64 when he said IM THE BEST.

Now this would make AI hardware in Pro worth it.
 

ThisIsMyDog

Member
If the PS6 is AI focused they can make GT8 around that concept: AI in single player campaign + ray tracing in everything + PSSR for perfect image quality. They can even use all the existing tracks and cars, but with new ones on top.
i think PS6 will be full on AI Agents in every game, and path tracing.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
So what's the point ? To watch self driving robots race each other? The whole fun is because or human error.
 

vivftp

Member
I've long speculated that advancements like Sophy would be used as testbeds for the self driving systems that Sony and Honda plan to develop for the Afeela EVs. This new advancement that lets the car "see" would be another step on that path.

I really wouldn't be surprised if Polyphony eventually releases some sort of city driving simulator game so the AI can train itself in a more urban environment
 

Three

Member
So what's the point ? To watch self driving robots race each other? The whole fun is because or human error.
So just play online? The point is now AI opponents aren't dumb like they were before and give you decent challenge and don't crash into you. With this new advancement it doesn't even need to know the complete track and car positions prior but make decisions based on what it sees only. This gives it use for any track including user generated ones.
 

vivftp

Member
Kill it with fire, before it's too late.

Hell naw, keep expanding it. I want TLOU Part 3 to have an AI that can both "see" me like this AI, and also has the ruthless analytical skills of Sophy to hunt me down and counter my moves.

The day someone transplants that AI into a robot body will be an interesting day for Humanity though, assuming we survive :pie_grinning:
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
So just play online? The point is now AI opponents aren't dumb like they were before and give you decent challenge and don't crash into you. With this new advancement it doesn't even need to know the complete track and car positions prior but make decisions based on what it sees only. This gives it use for any track including user generated ones.

So basically I'll never win another race in GT. lol
 

Outlier

Member
So what's the point ? To watch self driving robots race each other? The whole fun is because or human error.
The point is to eventually make the A.I. behave as human as possible, by allowing it to know and understand al the calculations/predictions available, so it can provide (adjust itself) an enjoyable experience, for the human player.

Unbeatable A.I. racers has been done, a long time ago.
 
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Hopefully this is one step closer to a racing game that I would actually enjoy. The current GT7 is marred by two things:
1) Always start in 12th position
2) The AI for every car lower than 4th is essentially an obstacle, and the car in the lead cheats.

Racing online is not the answer. Give me an AI that plays by the same rules as humans, add in qualifying laps, and I'll be back into the series.
 
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