Leading the world Gran Turismo 7 Players have had their shot at defeating Sony’s AI racer, GT Sophie, now, as seen in a video from the Gran Turismo World Series 2023 event, the bot has added drifting to its movement to rub salt in the wounds. The video clearly shows the AI-controlled vehicle drifting around the track like an absolute lunatic. Meanwhile, most people can’t pull off successful drifts in Mario Kart, let alone realistic racers like Gran Turismo.
GT Sophy, you can guess what GT stands for, is the result of Sony AI and Sony Interactive Entertainment and uses deep reinforcement learning methods. These methods trained artificial intelligence algorithms to control digital race cars within the game’s structure and constraints. When first unveiled, Sophie was adept at various racing tactics such as slipstreaming, passing and blocking, although drifting is a new move for the bot.
Sony says GT Sophy is here to stay, saying the company is trying to make AI a “permanent part of gaming”. Sony will make it regular for that Gran Turismo 7 Players last year for a limited time, so maybe that promotion will return.
For the uninitiated, drifting is a popular move in both real-world racing and its digital equivalent. First introduced to drifting in the 1980s, the vehicle incorporates steering so it makes a controlled skid through a turn. This allows you to quickly make sharp turns, shaving off significant seconds off the run.
Now that algorithms can perform these feats, don’t count on any evil robots to outwit when the AI apocalypse begins. You should probably just hide instead, or praise Alexa to get on her good side.