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An Israeli tank uses XBOX controllers and an AI honed by Doom and Starcraft II

Regulus Tera

Regulus Tera

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,458

"They wanted something lighter and more portable," said Meir Shabtai, general manager of IAI's robotics systems operations, which is responsible for the project. Shabtai noted that the drivers wanted the ability to bring the controller into their lap, for instance, instead of using fixed, mounted controls. "From teenagers up to pre-military guys, and guys who are after their service, we let each one play with the [Carmel simulation] and define what kind of skills and what kind of accessories we should use, and according to that we developed the whole system."
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"I don't want to say it took them four minutes, but maximum it took them four hours," Tzur said. "They are far more willing to experiment, they are much less afraid of technology … it comes to them naturally. It's not exactly like playing 'Fortnite,' but something like that, and amazingly they bring their skills to operational effectiveness in no time. I'll tell you the truth, I didn't think it could be reached so quickly."
Shabtai believes there's a simple explanation.
"They know exactly the position of those buttons, and they can reach much better performances with that system," he said. "The controller is just the interface, the whole idea is to present a sophisticated technology in a way they can deal with."
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About the AI system:

The AI system for Carmel was reinforced and trained using thousands of scenarios that the technology generates, according to Moshe Beutel, 44, who leads the algorithm group. One of the ways the team developed this technology was by grinding "StarCraft II," mixed in with a few other games such as "Doom," to teach the AI different strategies for navigation, target detection, weapon selection and other autonomous capabilities. He and his team also wrote what he called "reinforcement agents," but which gamers call "bots," to beat the games.

After only two weeks, Beutel said that his bots performed 20 to 30 percent better than humans in figuring out how to get from point A to point B while fighting several enemies. He defined "better" as "getting to the end point without getting hurt." The algorithm for the armored vehicle lives on the Unity software engine, an engine that also powers games like "Hearthstone," "Monument Valley" and "Cuphead."
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Build a settlement in occupied Palestinian territory and retaliate with tank power once the locals start protesting if old
 
Kaivan

Kaivan

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Oct 25, 2017
1,390
User banned (2 weeks): do not invoke Nazi comparisons in this topic
Fuck Israel.

Modern-day colonizers and genociders. Literally Neo Nazi.
 
DaciaJC

DaciaJC

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Oct 29, 2017
6,685
Interesting stuff. Not the first I've heard of console controllers being used for military applications, but the AI training is new.
 
RestEerie

RestEerie

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Aug 20, 2018
13,618
Just be glad they are not using the switch controller..joycon or pro...

You don't want a tank to drift, do you?
 
collige

collige

Member
Oct 31, 2017
12,772
Using controllers as a cheap and well known UI device is definitely something I've read about before as far as the military goes and is definitely something that I can see gaining steam in other areas.

It goes without saying that this particular application will lead to no good though.
 
purseowner

purseowner

From the mirror universe
Member
Oct 25, 2017
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UK
This sort of thing is nothing new - the US military has used Xbox controllers and hardware in various applications for years now. Don't know if any of those was an official development partnership with Microsoft though.

Microsoft is definitely more military-affiliated a company than their competition though, which is the main reason I've never been too fond of them.
 
Lucid

Lucid

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Oct 26, 2017
227
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Deleted member 11008

User requested account closure
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
6,627
Can Unity Technologies do something to prevent this? To update their clauses basically. I guess it wouldn't do a lot and the activities would be hidden, but the fact this was reported would should help to do something.
 
Kthulhu

Kthulhu

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Oct 25, 2017
14,670
I've heard about militaries using game controllers before (both for lethal and non lethal applications), but the AI stuff is new to me.
 
sirap

sirap

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Oct 25, 2017
8,210
South East Asia
Jesus fucking Christ. I can't think of a more tone deaf article.

My heart goes out to those poor Palestinians. They deserve better, but sadly the world doesn't care.
 
AzureJet

AzureJet

Prophet of Regret
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Oct 25, 2017
197
It makes sense. The Israeli government thinks Palestinians are demonic/alien creatures that deserve to be slaughtered.

Get bent, Israeli military.
 

Deleted member 10747

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User banned (2 weeks): do not invoke Nazi comparisons in this topic
Kaivan said:
Fuck Israel.

Modern-day colonizers and genociders. Literally Neo Nazi.
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You should probably edit that out because there is a high change you are going to get banned/warned for it... because Israel.....
O and i agree with your post.


Seriously disgusting but what can you expect from a country that likes and performs genocide...
 

Deleted member 12352

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Oct 27, 2017
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An interface so simple anyone can commit genocide with ease!

Seriously... fuck these disgusting pieces of shit.
 

Deleted member 37917

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Jan 10, 2018
7,207
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Very soon, you'll be able to control your own drone in VR and commit war crimes from the comfort of your home, while sipping on a piña colada. What a time to be alive!
 
ApeEscaper

ApeEscaper

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Oct 27, 2017
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User banned (2 weeks): do not invoke Nazi comparisons in this topic
Seshumaru said:
You should probably edit that out because there is a high change you are going to get banned/warned for it... because Israel.....
O and i agree with your post.


Seriously disgusting but what can you expect from a country that likes and performs genocide...
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This forum isn't mainstream media, they shouldn't be censored for calling out the truth
 
CerealEnthusiast

CerealEnthusiast

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
617
Elven_Star said:
Why don't you enlighten them? Oh, wait...
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Just watching this video would probably be enough to understand that Israel got attacked early on by every other country, and tried again and again to make peace. No one seemed to want it.
www.youtube.com

The Israel-Palestine conflict: a brief, simple history

The conflict is really only 100 years old. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO One of the biggest myths about the Israel-Palestine conflict is tha...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
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