Yahoo News 
An AI program has beaten humans at Texas Hold'Em poker for the first time
In what seems like further irrefutable proof that the machines are coming to take over, a poker-playing AI has triumphed against four humans in a 20-day long match for the first time ever.
The AI program, known as Libratus, was developed by engineers at Carnegie Mellon University – who taught it to play a variant of Texas Hold’Em.
Humans triumphed in a similar 2015 tournament, but the AI emerged victorious this time around – winning more than $1.5m (£1.2m) in chips from the humans.
The matches were broadcast over gaming streaming service Twitch, and the victory has been described as ‘historic.’
Professor Tuomas Sandholm, a computer science expert at Carnegie Mellon University, said: ‘Heads-up no limit Texas hold ’em is in a way the last frontier of all the games.
‘Othello, Chess, Go, Jeopardy have all been conquered, but this remained elusive: this is a landmark in AI game-play.’
He now believes that the technologies of the AI can be applied to a wide range of other scenarios, including ‘negotiations, finance, medical treatment and cybersecurity’.
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Jimmy Chou, one of the four players who lost against the AI, praised the creation for its ability to learn from and capitalise on their mistakes.
He said: ‘The first couple of days, we had high hopes. But every time we find a weakness, it learns from us and the weakness disappears the next day.’
Jason Les, who came fourth, also admitted that the loss was ‘demoralising.’
Perhaps it is – but we better get used to it.
