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Documentary Review: 'Artificial Gamer'

Fans of DOTA 2 and Artificial Intelligence will enjoy Artificial Gamer.

By Sean PatrickPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
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Several years ago a group of programmers, under the direction of Greg Brockman, set themselves a remarkable goal. Brockman’s initiative was to create an artificial intelligence that could not only compete with some of the best gamers in the world but could be capable of learning to defeat the greatest players in the world. The game Brockman chose for his project is one that has become the most lucrative and exciting in professional gaming, DOTA 2.

DOTA stands for Defense of the Ancients and is a game that was developed in 2003 by gaming company Valve. The game is a multiplayer online battle arena in which players can play alone or on a team and battle other players in a game of war and strategy involving magic, wizards, warriors and witches. The game is one of the most popular in the world having spawned the most successful and lucrative gaming tournament in the world, The International, which carries a prize in the millions of dollars for the winning team.

Brockman and his company of programmers at Open A.I made a splash in 2017 when their first prototype of a gaming bot defeated famed DOTA 2 player, Dendy, in a one on one match as an exhibition at The International. It was a watershed moment that came with several caveats, one of which was that the game playing bot may not have been playing entirely by the rules and that the application of what the bot did against Dendy may not be as successful in a team game of DOTA 2.

Thus, Greg Brockman and Open A.I had a journey ahead, they would attempt to create an A.I software that could learn and grow in knowledge playing DOTA 2 against teams of DOTA 2 players. The process of developing this A.I is documented in the new documentary Artificial Gamer from director Chad Herschberger. In Artificial Gamer we chart the progress of how A.I has developed over time, how teaching A.I to play different games such as Checkers, Chess and Go helped advance the field of A.I and the challenges facing a team attempting a form of A.I gaming more complex than any that had come before it.

Artificial Gamer is a charming and engaging documentary with a group of interesting programmers and equally charming gamers sharing their thoughts about DOTA 2, artificial intelligence and gaming, and the gaming industry in general. It’s good information in an entertaining package. So why am I not completely sold on this? What is it that keeps me from fully embracing Artificial Gamer as a documentary?

The answer, strangely enough, is a question: Why? Why dedicate so much time, effort, and resources to developing A.I strong enough and dynamic enough to defeat professional gamers at their favorite game? Why does it matter whether or not artificial intelligence can defeat human beings at Defense of the Ancients? The documentary makers don’t seem particularly interested in trying to answer this question. Sure, there is some theorizing regarding what this type of intelligent design can do in the future but right now all it is doing is playing a game. So, why is this something that people are so deeply invested in creating?

If I had to hazard a guess as to the motivation of Open A.I it would likely fall under the idea of ‘because we can.’ Why do this? Why teach Artificial Intelligence to play DOTA 2? Because we can. That’s not a particularly satisfying answer but it is what I came up with as I watched a group of charming individuals work endless hours, stressing over making sure their A.I made smart decisions in drafting fictional in game characters for their team and, even more difficult apparently, making the A.I work with only one in-game ‘Courier,’ a character that is specifically tasked with retrieving needed items for each of the five characters in use in the game.

I’ve never played DOTA or DOTA 2 but I can appreciate the skill and genius of those who do play these games. The amount of strategy and wit required to successfully play DOTA 2 is undeniably incredible. I’m also impressed with the way these gamers have developed their own niche and the ability that some have to make playing DOTA 2 their job. It’s remarkable to me that one could make a pretty good living just playing a video game really, really well.

That said, as presented in Artificial Gamer, DOTA 2 is impenetrable to outsiders. The complicated rules and convoluted look of the game from an outsider perspective is deeply off-putting. The International and other competitions of DOTA 2 players featured in Artificial Gamer feature a commentary team who narrate the action in the same way a Football or Baseball commentator would. And yet, even with an E-Sports Commentary team in place, I still could not follow the action of DOTA 2 and the tension of whether the A.I was winning or losing is rather lost on anyone who isn’t familiar with the game and how it is played.

That said, if you are a big E-Sports fan or someone fascinated by the ongoing developments in Artificial Intelligence, you will likely find Artificial Gamer far more interesting than I did. For me, parts of Artificial Gamer, such as the lovely group of programmers and the clever group of gamers, are very charming but what they were doing and why wasn’t particularly interesting. Artificial Gamer is available in limited theatrical release as of October 29th, 2021.

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About the Creator

Sean Patrick

Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.

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