Fancy yourself a rock, paper, scissors champion? Well, you can settle that at the annual championships, which are a real thing, but in the mean time, how about taking on a computer? In a truly random game, wins, losses, and ties would average out over time, but this isn’t a random game. The computer has some basic artificial intelligence, which uses statistical probability of the game’s simple rules and your own history of choices against you. Basically, it can learn, and since it’s a computer, it never forgets . . . and since this is the internet, the NSA probably knows how good you are at rock paper scissors now, so there’s that. We managed a 20-21-20 record against the veteran computer before it pulled ahead and stayed there; how about you?
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Photo courtesy of Amanda Tetrault.
