Sony<\/span><\/span>\u00a0last month announced\u00a0project Ace, an autonomous robot capable of competing with professional table tennis players. Sony says this breakthrough demonstrates that AI systems have achieved human-like, expert-level performance in a competitive sport in the physical world.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/figure>\n While the world is currently focused on the agentic AI<\/span><\/span> craze — allowing AI agents to perform tasks on your behalf — physical AI<\/span><\/span> is right on its heels. Having a humanoid robot\u00a0fold your laundry<\/span><\/span>\u00a0is just the beginning, and Sony is showing that physical AI could outperform humans in some instances.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Table tennis is a game of enormous complexity that requires split-second decisions as well as speed and power,” said Peter D\u00fcrr, director of Sony AI and project lead for Ace, in a press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ace uses advanced sensory technology, reinforcement learning and precision hardware to play table tennis. The robot has nine active pixel-sensor cameras, so it can determine the ball’s position in 3D space. There are also additional cameras and systems to help it measure the ball’s velocity and spin.\u00a0<\/p>\n Outside of the optics portion, Ace also has a control system based on model-free reinforcement learning that enables it to adapt and make decisions without a preprogrammed model. Combine this with high-speed robotic hardware to play the game, and the robot is as much a piece of art as it is hardware.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ace was tested against five elite and two professional-level table tennis players, and it won three of the five matches against the elite players overall. It also scored 16 direct points while serving versus the elite players’ eight.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ace is more than a proof of concept, but a glimpse into the future of physical AI. “Once AI can operate at an expert human level under these conditions, it opens the door to an entirely new class of real-world applications that were previously out of reach,” said Peter Stone, chief scientist at Sony AI, in the company’s press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sony did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n