Training Ground

Every month, 112 million people around the world sit down at computers and video game consoles to play Minecraft. There’s no pre-defined goal to the game or levels to beat. Its popularity lies in the fact that players can create almost anything imaginable using blocks of materials, like brick, wood, steel, glass, and wool. They can construct an Eiffel Tower, a space shuttle, or even an entire city. Players navigate their characters through Minecraft’s virtual 3-D world as they build. Along the way, they encounter a variety of objects, creatures, and other players—one of which might soon be an artificial intelligence, or AI.

An AI is a computer system capable of performing tasks normally associated with the human mind, like understanding language, making decisions, and solving problems. Even if you haven’t met an AI in Minecraft yet, you may have interacted with one elsewhere, perhaps without realizing it. Self-driving cars rely on intelligent software to navigate without a driver’s input. Smart thermostats use AI to detect when people are home or away and adjust temperatures to keep residents comfortable while saving energy. Electronic AI assistants like Siri and Alexa respond to voice commands to find information, play music, or make calls.

Every month, 112 million people around the world all play the same game. They sit down at computers and video game consoles and turn on Minecraft. The game doesn’t have a certain goal or levels to beat. It’s popular because players can create almost anything they can think of. They use blocks of materials, like brick, wood, steel, glass, and wool. They can build an Eiffel Tower, a space shuttle, or even an entire city. Players move their characters through Minecraft’s virtual, 3-D world as they build. Along the way, they meet different objects, creatures, and other players. One of those players might soon be an artificial intelligence, or AI.

An AI is a computer system. It can perform tasks normally done by the human mind. For example, it might understand language, make decisions, or solve problems. Even if you haven’t met an AI in Minecraft, you may have come across one elsewhere. And you might not even have realized it. Self-driving cars use intelligent software to find their way around without a driver. Smart thermostats use AI to detect when people are home or away and then change temperatures. This keeps people comfortable while saving energy. Electronic AI assistants like Siri and Alexa listen to voice commands. They can find information, play music, or make calls. 

The ideal of an adaptable, multitalented learning system is known as general artificial intelligence. Programmers hope AIs can achieve this type of intelligence by facing challenges, making mistakes, and learning from them. People do this in everyday life all the time—we encounter problems and figure out solutions. But AIs are computer programs. They can’t experience and react to things in the real world like humans do. That is, unless they’re given a physical robotic body. But no one wants a bunch of intelligent robots let loose on the world before the kinks have been worked out. That’s where Minecraft comes in. It provides a perfect artificial environment where AIs can safely try out novel things. And if the programs make bad decisions or run amok, they won’t cause any real damage.

The idea of a learning system that can adapt to many different areas is known as general artificial intelligence. Programmers want AIs to gain this type of intelligence. They hope the systems will face challenges, make mistakes, and learn from them. People do this in everyday life. We run into problems and figure out solutions. But AIs are computer programs. They can’t experience and react to things in the real world like humans do. That is, unless they have a physical robotic body. But the problems with intelligent robots haven’t been worked out yet, so no one wants them let loose on the world. That’s where Minecraft comes in. It provides a perfect artificial setting where AIs can try new things safely. The programs might make bad decisions or run wild. But they won’t cause any real damage. 

Minecraft also has a chat feature that allows players to communicate with one another. Researchers at Facebook are using this function to let an AI assistant they’ve developed for Minecraft practice talking with people. The developers want human players to be able to ask the assistant for help with building or other activities in the game (see A Chat With a Bot). The AI is labeled as a bot, so players know they’re not interacting with a real person.

The scientists’ goal is to improve the AI’s understanding of instructions given in natural language, meaning regular everyday speech. Normally, commands for a computer must be provided in a special programming language, or code. “Understanding natural language is a big challenge for AIs,” says Kavya Srinet, an AI engineer at Facebook and one of the lead researchers on the Minecraft assistant project. “But it’s an important part of being able to collaborate with humans. We also want the assistant to be fun to play with. We hope that if it makes silly mistakes while learning, it’s still amusing and engaging for players.”

For now, Facebook’s AI Minecraft assistant is being developed only for research purposes. But eventually, Srinet would love to see a similar program made widely available to any Minecraft player who wanted to try it out. In the future, a similarly trained helper AI might even be able to apply what it learned in a virtual world to real life. A robot with general artificial intelligence could someday assist people with tasks that go far beyond just stacking blocks.

Minecraft also has a chat feature, so players can communicate with each other. Researchers at Facebook have developed an AI assistant for Minecraft. They’re using the chat feature to let the AI practice talking with people. Human players can ask the assistant for help with building or other actions in the game (see A Chat With a Bot). The AI is labeled as a bot, so players know it’s not a real person.

The scientists want the AI to learn to better understand instructions given in natural language. That means regular everyday speech. Normally, commands for a computer must be in a special programming language, or code. “Understanding natural language is a big challenge for AIs,” says Kavya Srinet. She’s an AI engineer at Facebook and one of the lead researchers on the Minecraft assistant project. “But it’s an important part of being able to collaborate with humans. We also want the assistant to be fun to play with. We hope that if it makes silly mistakes while learning, it’s still amusing and engaging for players.”

For now, Facebook’s AI Minecraft assistant is being developed only for research. But Srinet would love to see that change. She hopes that someday, any Minecraft player could try out a program like it. In the future, a similar AI helper might even be able to use what it learned in a virtual world in real life. A robot with general artificial intelligence could help people with far bigger tasks than stacking blocks.