OpenAI Bots Beat Best Dota 2 Team In 2019

Back in 2019, something that every competitive gamer was scared of happened – an OpenAI team beat the best Dota 2 team in the world. In the world of competitive gaming, nothing could have prepared us for the revolution that was sparked by OpenAI back then.

This artificial intelligence research company developed a team of AI bots to compete with Team OG. The OpenAI bot team was capable of defeating the world’s best Dota 2 team in just 21 minutes. Through their technology, the OpenAI team trained its bots to gain 45,000 hours of experience. This made the team of AI bots formidable. They were able to annihilate their human opponents with an impressive score of 46 to 6. Back then, this was seen as something revolutionary. Even today, with AI technology developing rapidly, something like this is astonishing. Of course, this pushed the limits of what we thought was possible in the world of esports.

Did you know that in 2019, OpenAI bots learned to play Dota 2 by playing over 45,000 years of the games against themselves? See how they beat Team OG, the best human players. pic.twitter.com/I7OTCjnWJf

— AI Insight (@ai_insight1) March 26, 2023

The OpenAI bots, known as OpenAI Five, were designed to learn and master the game through reinforcement learning. This allowed the AI to play millions of matches against itself and rapidly adapt to various strategies and game scenarios. By the time OpenAI Five was ready to face off against Team OG, the AI had mastered the game. With over 45,000 combined hours of experience, the bots developed the ability to work as a team and execute advanced strategies. Even professional players found it challenging to compete against them.

Since then, the esports industry has grown immersively. However, there is still hesitation to implement AI technology in any competitive esports match. While this remains an issue, as time passes by, industry giants have no option but to accept the technology.

The Ability Of AI To Master Complex, Strategic Gameplay

Dota 2 is a team game where it is necessary to cooperate with other team players to succeed. While one player can handle the game just well, it is really hard to win without cooperation. The teamwork achieved by OpenAI Five shocked the gaming industry, leaving the communities in disbelief. There are still who claim that the OpenAI Five did not win on fair terms as Team OG was limited on what items and characters of the game they were allowed to play.

In just a short period of time, OpenAI was able to build a team of Dota 2 players that beat the best team in the world. Of course, implementing AI tech in actual competitive tournaments will never be healthy for the industry. Nevertheless, this technology can help professional esports players to improve their skills. While experts believe AI teams have no place in tournaments, the debate is still going on. The community doesn’t want this to happen, however, as it is “highly unethical” and it “does not promote sportsmanship.”

Can AI Improve ESports?

The match between OpenAI Five and Team OG was highly anticipated by the gaming community. The spectators were not only the Dota 2 community, with players from CS:GO and LoL joining in as well. The OpenAI Five team got better as the game progressed. This indicates that the bots were learning as the game went on.

Some gaming experts are exploring the possibility of implementing AI-driven coaching systems. There are hundreds of online algorithmic tools for major games like League of Legends, however, most of them have not implemented AI yet. Artificial Intelligence can help players get better with each game they play, coaching them before, throughout, and after the matches. Of course, this would be a great addition to the gaming experience of casual players as well.