KAIST

KAIST hosted the first AI World Cup 2017. A total of 26 teams, comprised of Korean undergraduates or graduates, participated in AI Soccer, AI Commentator, and AI Reporter competitions.

On the first of December, the final tournament for AI Soccer was held in the KI Building. More than 200 people came to watch the first AI soccer match based on the Deep-Q Network Learning. The games were commentated by two KAIST students who humorously interpreted the games, catching people’s attention.

In AI Soccer, 18 teams participated, and KAIST BML (KAIST), AIM (KAIST), WISRL (KAIST), and AR Lab (Chonbuk National University) made it to the final four. Each team had its own unique style and strategy.

After some fierce contests, the win went to AR Lab, which showed fearless attacks throughout the game. Having no goalkeeper, AR Lab focused on attacking. According to the team, instead of training individual players, they concentrated on training a manager that directed the players, giving them a choice when to attack and defend.

 (AR Lab from Chonbuk National University, the winning team of AI Soccer tournament)

Different from humans playing soccer, it was interesting to see how AI robots self-improved their movements while playing the games.

For AI Commentators, judges looked for a team with the most accuracy, forecasting ability, and fluency. Four teams competed, and the Yally team won the title.

For AI Reporters, which required informativeness and reliability, four teams participated, and the prize went to a team, named Deep CMT (KAIST).

Although this year’s games only included domestic universities, KAIST plans to extend participation to university students from around the world in the future, and hopes that the AI World Cup 2017 will become the foundation for launching the next games on an international level.