Judgement day might be closer than we expected, as the OpenAI system has managed to dominate a team of high skill Dota 2 players ahead of a planned show match at The International 2018. The exhibition match, streamed on Twitch yesterday, pitted the AI system against 5 players ranked in the 99th percentile for Dota 2 in a best of three showdown. Unfortunately for the players, the match was over with less than an hour of game time, as OpenAI dominated the first two games to claim victory.
The five human players chosen were no slouches either, with the roster comprising of Ioannis "Fogged" Loucas, William "Blitz" Lee, Ben "Merlini" Wu, David "MoonMeander" Tan, and Austin "Capitalist" Walsh. MoonMeander alone is a two-time Dota 2 Major winner and veteran of The International, though all of the players were outclassed on the day.
OpenAI was also subject to a number of restrictions, with the hero pool restricted to just eighteen heroes, the inability to purchase Divine Rapier and Bottles, no summoned units or illusions, no Scan, and though it was given five invulnerable couriers, it was not allowed to scout or tank creep waves with them.
The restrictions proved to be little hinderance, as OpenAI claimed the first match in just under 22 minutes, and the second match in 25 minutes. Though the Human team did finally pick up a win in the third match, if the series was a true best of five battle then the series would have already been lost. The OpenAI system is expected to battle against a group of pro players at The International 8 when it kicks off later this month, though who will come out on top remains to be seen.
