Gamers could soon be guiding military robots afterresearchers won a grant to investigate what they can teach an AI about controlling swarms of drones.

Scientists from the University of Buffalowillstudy the decisions, brainwaves and eye movements of people playing video games. They will then use this data to build an AI that can controlautonomous air and ground robots

The participants will play a real-time strategy game developed by the research team thats comparable to the likes of Starcraft and Company of Heroes,UBNow revealed.

[Read: How DeepMinds AI defeated top players at StarCraft II]

While they play, the researchers will record their decisions, track their eye movements with high-speed cameras, and monitor their brain wave patterns through electroencephalography (EEG)headsets.

The data they extract will be used to create algorithms that guideswarms of up to 250 military drones.

We dont want the AI system just to mimic human behavior; we want it to form a deeper understanding of what motivates human actions. Thats what will lead to more advanced AI, principal investigatorChowdhury told UBNow.

The study will be funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which recentlypublished a video showing how itsdrone swarms could conduct anurban raid.

StarCraft experts left unimpressed by DARPAs efforts now have a chance to demonstrate that their own tactics are superior.

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Published February 12, 2020 18:24 UTC

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Gamers will teach AI how to control military drone swarms - The Next Web