A supercomputer developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University is on its way of overturning dominant perceptions that it could be inferior to the human brain as far as playing poker is concerned. Libratus, the artificial intelligence machine, has so far piled up a mind-boggling lead of around $800,000 against a team of professional poker players as part of the “Brains vs. Artificial Intelligence” challenge sponsored by the Rivers Casino. The sessions are broadcast live on the operator’s website between 11AM and 7PM ET daily until all of the 120,000 hands scheduled to play out are completed.
When asked how they felt about the impressive performance of the supercomputer, players admitted they initially underestimated the AI but witnessed its potential to enhance its game grow with every subsequent hand.
The brainchild of computer science professor Tuomas Sandholm and his PhD student Noam Brown, Libratus is the first successful artificial intelligence attempt to generate profit playing against true professionals. For instance, its predecessor Claudico was unable to beat humans back in 2015.