Tencent’s Honor of Kings AI beats a team of pros

In yet another example of machine learning algorithms besting teams of highly skilled players, an autonomous system devised by Tencent’s AI lab yesterday defeated a human team in a five-on-five Honor of Kings match. The Hong Kong tech giant says the win demonstrates its AI’s ability to “solve [difficult] challenges,” and that it represents “significant progress” in the company’s exploration of strategic and collaborative AI.

For the uninitiated, Tencent’s Honor of Kings — or Arena of Valor, depending on the region — occupies the video game subgenre known as multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBAs). It’s enormously popular — it grossed nearly $2 billion last year, making it the top-selling mobile game worldwide — but more importantly, it’s an incomplete information game. Players are unaware of the actions chosen by other players and are forced to learn, analyze, understand, reason, and make decisions in real time, tasks that are considered grand challenges in AI research.