Ace, Sony’s AI robot capable of beating professional ping pong players
One of the areas where artificial intelligence performs worst is the real world. Until now, AI systems have offered performance capable of surpassing humans in the digital environment, such as in chess or certain video games, but the physical world is a complex challenge where perception, planning, and millisecond speed must be combined. That’s why there are so few robots that compete well in human physical sports. Until now. Nature magazine publishes research on Sony’s Ace project, a robotic arm capable of playing table tennis with elite amateur and professional players and, on occasion, beating them.