Google built a machine that’s better at games than you are

Google is busy ensuring that our eventual demise at the hands of robots that are super-good at Breakout is inevitable.

The search giant built an artificially intelligent machine that teaches itself how to play games, according to a study published in the journal Nature (via BBC News). Google’s scientist designed the system to operate and learn like the human brain does. It was able to learn the rules and how to win in 49 different games for the Atari 2600 gaming system. In the majority of these games, it was able to eventually play better than nearly anyone alive. Sounds like a challenge for gaming’s John Henry: Billy Mitchell, who is a world record holder in several classic games and was the first person to achieve a perfect score in Pac-Man.