Gran Turismo 7 expands its use of AI/ML-trained NPCs with good effect
First, Sony made an unbeatable AI driver; now, it's retrained it to be a good NPC.
In 2022, a team of AI researchers at Sony sat down and made an AI agent that was nearly unbeatable at the racing game Gran Turismo 7. More than just car control, the agent, called GT Sophy, also had to learn racing tactics and strategies—and even etiquette. Up against the world's best human players, Sophy beat the humans by 104 races to 52 in a match in 2021.
Since then, Sony and Polyphony Digital have been hard at work retraining it from being able to dominate the world's best with ease into something that's more fun for the rest of us to compete against. The latest refinement is GT Sophy 2.1, which appeared as part of GT7's latest update yesterday. It's now enabled at more tracks, and you can finally set up custom races at those tracks using the better AI.
“Since we first introduced GT Sophy three years ago, we have worked closely with [Polyphony Digital] to explore how AI can enhance gameplay and create more dynamic and fun racing experiences for players of all skill levels," said Kaushik Subramanian, senior staff research scientist at Sony AI. "With GT Sophy 2.1, we are giving players more control than ever over their interactions with GT Sophy by allowing them to fine-tune gameplay, experiment with new strategies, and advance their racing skills."
