Gran Turismo 7 players can prepare to compete against a superhuman AI opponent dubbed “Gran Turismo Sophy” thanks to a breakthrough in AI. Created by Sony AI, GT Sophy was co-produced with Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital and has been in development for five years.
Sophy can be described as a new autonomous AI driver trained to win against the world’s best GT Sport drivers today, using a brand new AI algorithm that has helped Sony develop a sophisticated racing competitor that was hitherto impossible.
However, unlike typical AI rivals, Gran Turismo Sophy doesn’t try to push the in-game CPU. He reacted like a real human (or superhuman) and had to master three basic driving skills using basic deep augmented learning (basically, the process of repeating and learning countless scenarios until the best result was achieved).
As Sony AI CEO Hiroaki Kitano said, “Gran Turismo Sophy is a key player that aims not only to be better than human gamers, but also to provide gamers with a stimulating competitor that can accelerate their technique and creativity and elevate it to the next level. “In addition to contributing to the gaming community, we believe this breakthrough opens up new opportunities in areas such as autonomous racing, autonomous driving, high-speed robotics and control.”
The first feature Sophy had to master was race car control. Sophy needed to understand car dynamics, racing lines and precise maneuvering to conquer challenging tracks. Later, Sophy had to learn racing tactics. When racing to deal with ever-evolving and changing situations, snappy decision-making is required, and so GT Sophy had to master tactics such as quick-passing, diagonals and even defensive maneuvers such as blocking.
Perhaps the most human skill Sophy had to learn was racing etiquette. GT Sophy was trained to follow the rules of sportsmanship. So it won’t try to push you off the track and will respect the opposing driving lines.
These three key features were achieved in collaboration with Sony Computer Entertainment Interactive’s cloud gaming infrastructure that allows Sophy to experience and learn from thousands of scenarios.
The results of GT Sophy learning and improving its capabilities over time have led the AI to comprehensively beat the best GT Sport drivers in the world. At an event held in July 2021, Sophy lost by 70 points to 86. However, at the next event in October, Gran Turismo Sophy comfortably beat the world’s top drivers by 104 points to 52 points.
FIA Gran Turismo Championships 2020 Champion Takuma Miyazono said after the race events against Sophy: “I completely forgot that I was playing against the AI. It was really fun. I want to race this driver more in the future.”
FIA Gran Turismo Championships 2020 World Finalist Emily Jones noted that GT Sophy’s techniques gave her an idea of what she could improve while behind the wheel. “It was really exciting to see GT Sophy’s racing technique,” said Jones. “I was very inspired by him.”
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