ANC Seminar - Joseph Marino

Tuesday, 14th May 2024

Modern Video Games as a Testbed for Developing Generalist AI Agents

Abstract: AI systems have recently entered the mainstream in various forms, primarily built around generative models. Such generative AI systems are capable of generating plausible text, images/video, and audio, yet the ways in which these systems interact with their environments remain relatively limited. This notion of interaction or agency is central to the development of more capable AI systems. On the path toward creating such agents, in this talk, I will advocate for the use of simulations, in the form of modern video games, as a useful testbed for agent research. Simulated environments afford many of the basic elements of embodied interaction while also being much cheaper, scalable, and safer than robotics. In this talk, I will discuss our recent work at Google DeepMind to prove out this vision of using modern video games as research environments to develop generalist agents.

Bio: Joe Marino is a Research Scientist at Google DeepMind. His research focuses on developing principles underlying agency in AI systems, in part, drawing on inspiration from biological intelligence. Prior to joining Google DeepMind in 2021, Joe completed his PhD at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), investigating connections between predictive coding in neuroscience and machine learning.

Event type: Seminar

Date: Tuesday, 14th May

Time: 11:00

Location: G.03

Speaker(s): Joseph Marino

Chair/Host: Oisin Mac Aodha