Artificial Intelligence Created An Entirely New Sport
Artificial intelligence has conceived of everything from art and perfume to drugs and Christmas cookies. Now it’s creating entirely new sports.
Digital agency AKQA trained text- and image-generating networks on 400-plus global sports to create a unique pastime.
Using Nvidia Tesla GPUs, models produced more than 1,000 outputs, which were analyzed and narrowed down to 10 potential concepts. Three were field tested. Only Speedgate survived.
A mix of rugby, soccer, croquet, football, and field hockey, the game is “fun, fast, and physical, relying heavily on teamwork and passing to score and win,” according to the sport’s website.
Speedgate’s rules are simple: Players team up in two groups of six and try to kick or pass the ball into a gate at either end of the field.
But remember, you’ll need to keep the ball moving every three seconds, and you cannot cross a circle in the middle of the field.
Teams earn two points by kicking the ball through the gates at either end, or three points for ricocheting the ball through the gate.
A full set of rules—as well as instructions on how to start your own league—are available online.
AKQA also trained their networks on 10,400 logos to develop the official Speedgate emblem (which, frankly, is less interesting than the game’s mascot: a robot carrying a ball and pennant).
“Using AI as a member of a creative team takes us to a new place, that we never could have gotten to without it,” AKQA Creative Director Whitney Jenkins said in a statement.
Artificial intelligence is even responsible for the sport’s somewhat sluggish motto: “Face the ball to be the ball to be above the ball.”
AKQA demonstrated Speedgate at an event in Portland last week; the company is reportedly in talks with the Oregon Sports Authority to launch an intramural league this summer.
“Going all out for victory is applauded, but it should never come at the expense of having an awesome time,” according to the product page. “Speedgate is all about enjoyment, inclusivity, and sportsmanship.”
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