Table tennis robot defeats some of the best players in the world – why this has a big impact on robotics

A table tennis robot has outperformed elite players in recent ratings. The robot, called Ace, marks a significant step toward artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can operate in fast-paced, uncertain real-world environments.

During the tests, the autonomous robot won three out of five games against top players – competitive athletes with over ten years of experience and an average of 20 hours of weekly training. The robot, developed by Sony AI, lost both games against players in professional Japanese leagues, but won a game against one of them. The system is described in detail in a recent paper published in Nature.

AI has spent decades dominating games. It has repeatedly outperformed the best humans in everything from complex video games like StarCraft II to chess – where modern programs now far exceed human ratings.

Pioneering systems like Deep Blue and AlphaGo have confirmed that AI can achieve superhuman performance given clear rules and enough data. But…