Gran Turismo 7 developer Polyphony Digital has partnered with Sony AI to release a new AI called Sophy into the game.
Sophy's AI in Gran Turismo 7 is designed to give even the most prolific racers a head start. Sophie trained on the PS5 racing simulator's player base to create an AI that feels like you're racing against real players (thanks, Venture Beat(opens in new tab)).
Sophie is now available to race in Gran Turismo 7, albeit in limited quality. Players must access the new Race Together mode from the main menu, and you're currently limited to just a few tracks with varying difficulty levels.
The mode is available only for a limited time - from today until the end of March. However, Polyphony has confirmed that it will take into account the feedback from this session to improve Sophy and will conduct numerous tests on the game throughout the year.
“Priority AI, which has basically remained unchanged for the past 20 years, is trying to follow a line and a certain trajectory. That is, he tries to develop a certain speed at certain points, ”says Sophy project manager Peter Wurman. “And it's very predictable. And it's not fast enough for really good (human) drivers."
There is a lot of truth in Wurman's words. The best racing games usually scale the AI based on the difficulty level. But in the end, the best players in any racing game know AI from the inside out. This makes them quite manageable even at the hardest level, and knowing the various quirks to take advantage of can make racing against more standard AI even easier.
The future of AI in racing games?
Sophy is certainly a very ambitious project and using an AI trained neural network is definitely something new in the realm of racing games. The closest example is the Drivatar system in Forza Motorsport, which does its best to adapt to the behavior of the players it is based on.
If Sophy works as intended, it could be a revolutionary change in how future racing games develop their computer-controlled drivers. As Wurman hints, AI can only do so much with predefined behaviors and constraints.
With Sophy, AI has the potential to adapt human behavior. This can be a risk, such as braking later than usual in a corner, or finding the best time to get into the pit lane for a tire change.
Though I'm worried that some bad habits might seep into Sophie's AI as well. GT7's online Sport mode, despite calling for a sporty playstyle, is rife with hyper-aggressive players who seek to disadvantage other players by avoiding penalties. Often this works in favor of the aggressor.
Time will tell if Sophy turns into an exemplary Gran Turismo 7 professional driver or a Wacky Races-style wheeled disaster. But anyway, I think it's an interesting and productive use of AI technology that can bring a much-needed degree of unpredictability to GT7's single-player modes.
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