Those classic Atari games were harder than you think

Google's artificial intelligence studio Deep Mind has created a computer program that can play Pong. Here is why that feat is more impressive than it sounds

So a computer program has learned how to play classic Atari games. Big deal. I mean, they're just big blocks of pixels pushing smaller blocks of pixels around a screen, right?

Yet somehow, the UK artificial intelligence specialist Deep Mind, bought last year by Google for 240m, is extremely excited about the fact that it has developed an AI agent capable of learning how to play Space Invaders. I learned how to play Space Invaders in a cafe in Blackpool when I was six. But Google hasn't acquired me. What's going on?

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