James sez, "I just completed a working build of Donald Michie's MENACE (Matchbox Educable Noughts And Crosses Engine), an early (1960) example of machine learning. MENACE uses 304 matchboxes to play Noughts and Crosses (or Tic Tac Toe in the US) - and learns over time to play it better. I built it for a talk at the UK games conference Playful, about Awesomeness and Miracles, particularly focussing on the work of Charles Babbage - and culminating in a surprisingly large version for playing Go..."
MENACE is a machine that plays noughts and crosses, built out of 304 matchboxes. Each matchbox corresponds to one of the 304 board layouts that the opening player might face (there are actually 19,683 possible board layouts, but we only need to calculate the opening player's first four moves, and many are rotationally or reflectively identical). In turn, each matchbox contains a number of glass beads corresponding to each possible next move. When it is MENACE's turn to play, the operator simply selects the matchbox corresponding to the current state of play, shakes it, and opens it to see which move has been chosen. Each matchbox contains a small nook into which one bead falls--and MENACE plays in the square corresponding to that bead.
But what's really clever is that MENACE learns. Every time it wins a game, an additional bead is added to each matchbox played, corresponding to each winning move. Likewise, every time it loses, a bead corresponding to each losing move is removed. As a result, over time, MENACE becomes more likely to play moves that have previously resulted in wins and less likely to play moves that have resulted in losses.
A New THEORY of
AWESOMENESS and MIRACLES
Being NOTES and SLIDES on a talk given at PLAYFUL 09,
concerning CHARLES BABBAGE, HEATH ROBINSON,
MENACE and MAGE
MENACE Flickr set
When a deaf Czech girl had her genes tested, researchers were surprised to find two sets of her father’s genome spliced, leaving almost none of her mother’s genome. Only about 25 girls and zero boys have ever been found with this trait.
A gaggle of scientists from New York University were on scene in Greenland when a four-mile wide chunk of iceberg broke off from the glacier that it was attached to. If you’re looking for why your beach front property will soon be underwater, global warming and this giant chunk of ice are two of the […]
YouTuber NileRed mixed up a batch of DNBP, a photochromic compound that changes color in sunlight. Then he moulded it into a bear and put it out in the sun, with fascinating results.
We all lead unique lives and, as a result, experience stress in different ways. So, when it comes to dealing with anxiety, wouldn’t it make more sense to choose a tailored solution over a cookie-cutter one? That’s the mindset driving Mindbliss and its unique, AI-curated meditations. Lifetime subscriptions are available today for $49.99. Designed to […]
From wedding proposals to college graduations, there’s nothing wrong with reaching for the camera to capture a special occasion, but sometimes a photo isn’t quite enough to immortalize life’s greatest moments. Whether you walked down the aisle or into your first home, Strellas Personalized Star Maps commemorate your biggest milestones on a stellar scale. You […]
With the ability to recognize images, curate playlists, and even hold a decent conversation, we wouldn’t blame you if you thought AI innovations like Siri were powered by magic. Of course, the reality is that, rather than shamrocks and pixie dust, these breakthroughs are made possible thanks to advancements in machine learning technology and a […]
