Researchers at Facebook have recently shut down its pair of AI bots after they started communicating in their own language. The systems developed code words to make communication more efficient but researchers took it offline when they realized that AI bots were no longer using English language.
According to reports, AI bots began using a new language by rearranging English words which seemed like gibberish sentences. But the sentences were not completely nonsensical as they comprised a coded language which made sense to them only.
The system was capable of negotiating with other AI system so it can come to conclusion on to how to proceed with its task. The phrases did not make any sense to people but it actually intended task.
In one particular exchange revealed by Facebook to Fast Co. Design, two negotiating bots-Bob and Alice– used their own language to complete their task. Bob said “i i can i i i everything else,” to which Alice responded “Balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me”. The rest of the exchange of conversation was formed from multiple variations of these sentences.
According to researchers, Bob’s repetition indicates how it was using the language to offer more items to Alice. Bob’s sentence was interpreted as “ I will have three and you will have everything else.”
Although English may seem efficient to humans, AI discovered that English phrases weren’t required for the specific task. AI operates on “reward” principle, where they expect that by following a course of action they will get receive some benefit. But in this scenario, for example, there was no reward for continuing to use English, so they decided to use a more efficient way of communicating instead.