Artificial Intelligence, Real Competition with Liv Boeree and Matt Ginsberg

About This Episode

Can AI have a poker face? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Gary O’Reilly and Chuck Nice discuss poker and playing against…the machines. Joining them are former poker player and science communicator Liv Boeree and artificial intelligence expert Matt Ginsberg. 

Is there a strategy behind a poker face? We break down strategy, game theory, and probability in poker. What is state space complexity? What does it have to do with AI? Learn about Nash Equilibrium and how it is used in games such as poker. How long would it take to become a perfect poker player? How have styles of game play changed over the years? Is playing online poker different than in person? How about playing against a computer? Find out about statistics, artificial intelligence, and Liv’s work in effective altruism. 

Continuing with Matt, we go over his champion crossword-solving AI, Dr. Fill, and break down how it plays. We continue with the Nash Equilibrium and ask: can a computer bluff? Is using AI considered cheating? How do you enforce the use of computers in a game with breaks? Should competitions even allow computers to play? Do casinos have AI programs to tell if you are cheating? 

Discover the future of AI in competition. What prevents people from using AI to win? Could it be used by casinos to catch cheaters? We philosophize on whether people care if humans win these competitions and what it would be like to have a chip in your brain. Does AI have the capacity to guess? All that, plus, find out what term fooled Dr. Fill’s vocabulary!

Thanks to our PatronsRicardo Torres, Mason Dickson, Alireza Sefat, Henk Van der Merwe, Derek Eilertson, Erdem Memisyazici, Sriram Govindan, Christian Murmann, Derrick Thurman, and Cayman Freeman for supporting us this week.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.

About the prints that flank Neil in this video:
“Black Swan” & “White Swan” limited edition serigraph prints by Coast Salish artist Jane Kwatleematt Marston. For more information about this artist and her work, visit Inuit Gallery of Vancouver.