Must see video! Incredible AI system learns to solve a Rubik’s Cube

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have created an artificial intelligence system that can solve a Rubik’s Cube in an average of 1.2 seconds, in about 20 moves. That is two seconds faster than the current human world record of 3.47 seconds, while people who can finish the puzzle quickly usually do so in about 50.

Engadged reported that this artificial intelligence – DeepCubeA – does not hold the record for automated Rubik’s Cube solving because last year, scientists built another machine which is capable of solving the famous Hungarian invention in 0.38 second. Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s min2phase algorithm, which is not an AI system, solved it three times faster than DeepCubeA. While other methods were specifically designed to solve the cube, DeepCubeA had to forge its own path.

However, creators of DeepCubeA still have not figured out how the AI was able to recognise that the cube has six blocks of colours on each side of it and billions of combinations to solve the cube. After the researchers showed the AI what the result would look like when the cube is completed, the system was able to figure out on its own how to get there, which is still a big mystery for scientists.