Can Robots Win at Table Tennis? Take a Look!

Google DeepMind has just achieved a new level of robotic skill – the ability to compete and win at table tennis, a game that requires years of training for people who want compete at an expert level.

This video shows the robot in action against an array of competitors, ranging from beginner level to tournament pro and, in doing so, describes both the hardware and AI aspect, including how it was trained and a summary of the key innovations contributed by this project.

It also gives summary results of the live matches, segmented by experience level of opponents. As a bonus, I looked at the performance data and have shared four insider tips for how to beat this robot at table tennis. The video ends on a light note, describing something called RoboCup, which has the goal of fielding a team of robots that will be ready to take on the World Cup soccer champion team by 2050. You’ll quickly see that we have a very long way to go on that particular goal.