Malcolm Rivera
Meta AI has developed an AI named Cicero that can beat humans in Diplomacy, a complex, conversational alliance-building board game. Cicero combines strategic thinking with natural language processing to play the game at a human level. While it doesn't play at a superhuman level, its ability to perform well in the game and handle informal negotiations is a significant scientific breakthrough. This article will explore the strategies and limitations of playing against Cicero in Diplomacy, offering insights into how humans can beat this AI opponent.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of players | 7 |
| Game type | Zero-sum and deterministic game of imperfect information |
| Game strategy | Players must predict opponents' next actions |
| AI strategy | Honest and talkative |
| AI performance | Placed first in an 8-game tournament with 21 players |
| AI limitations | Does not intentionally backstab |
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What You'll Learn
Cicero's honesty
To generate dialogue, Cicero uses a pre-trained language model, such as R2C2, fine-tuned on a large dataset of messages from online Diplomacy games. Its planning module generates intents by predicting other players' likely actions based on the state of the board and messages exchanged. Cicero's strategic reasoning and natural language processing capabilities enable it to form alliances and negotiate effectively, contributing to its success in the game.
While Cicero's honesty can be advantageous, it is important to remember that Diplomacy is a zero-sum game where forming alliances and negotiating with other players are crucial. Cicero's strategy may involve manipulating others to achieve its objectives, even if it does so honestly. Therefore, while Cicero's honesty sets it apart from its namesake, it still possesses a degree of manipulativeness necessary for success in the complex world of Diplomacy.
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Manipulative messaging
To beat Cicero in the board game Diplomacy, you can take advantage of the AI's key weakness: its honesty. While the game is known for its treacherous and untrustworthy nature, with players often breaking their alliances, Cicero always plays straight. It is almost entirely honest and does not renege on deals. This is a surprisingly effective strategy in Diplomacy, but only if your opponents don't know that you will never betray them.
Since Cicero played anonymously, its human opponents likely didn't realize this weakness. However, if you are aware of this, you can use it to your advantage by manipulating the messaging in your negotiations. Form alliances with other players and reassure them of your intentions, while also spreading the word about Cicero's unwavering loyalty. This will make it harder for Cicero to form its own alliances and increase the likelihood of other players teaming up against it.
Additionally, Cicero is very talkative, exchanging twice as many messages with other players as the human players it tends to beat. As a bot, it can easily handle multiple simultaneous conversations. Try to take advantage of this by engaging in lengthy negotiations with Cicero, drawing its attention and resources away from its conversations with other players. This may disrupt its strategy and ability to form alliances effectively.
Remember, Diplomacy is a complex alliance-building game, and your ability to negotiate and manipulate the messaging in your conversations will be key to your success. Take advantage of Cicero's honesty and talkative nature to gain the upper hand in your negotiations and influence other players' perceptions and actions.
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Strategic thinking
Diplomacy is a complex, strategic board game that involves players controlling a major European power during World War I. The objective is to capture and control strategic cities and provinces, which allow the player to make more military units to eventually take over all of Europe.
The game is challenging because it involves a lot of strategic thinking and negotiation. Players must consider the strategies of six other players and make moves simultaneously without knowing their opponents' next actions. This makes it a game of imperfect information, where players must predict their opponents' moves based on the limited information they have.
To be successful in Diplomacy, players must form alliances with other players and negotiate to coordinate their actions. This involves sending messages to each other and exchanging information to form a plan. The ability to negotiate and communicate effectively is a key determinant of success in the game.
Cicero, the AI developed by Meta, has proven to be very successful in playing Diplomacy. It combines strategic thinking with natural language processing capabilities, allowing it to negotiate and communicate with other players effectively. Cicero was trained over 40,000 rounds of webDiplomacy.net, a free-to-play web version of the game. It also incorporates an iterative planning algorithm called piKL, which helps it predict other players' actions and choose optimal actions for itself.
However, there are some strategies that players can use to beat Cicero. Firstly, unlike its namesake, Cicero the AI is almost entirely honest and will not betray its allies. If players are aware of this, they can take advantage of this knowledge and form alliances with Cicero, knowing that it will not break its promises. Additionally, Cicero is very talkative, exchanging twice as many messages with other players as the human players it tends to beat. This talkativeness can be a giveaway, and players can use this information to predict Cicero's moves and form counterstrategies.
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Natural language processing
Meta AI's Cicero is an AI that can beat humans at the board game Diplomacy. Diplomacy is a complex alliance-building game set in Europe during World War I, where players each control a major European power and must capture and control strategic cities and provinces to make more military units to eventually take over all of Europe. The game involves a lot of negotiations and conversations with other players, which often result in alliances or betrayals.
Cicero combines strategic thinking with natural language processing capabilities. It was trained using a large language model and a dataset of millions of messages from online Diplomacy games. This allows it to generate human-like messages that are contextually appropriate and trustworthy. Cicero also exchanges twice the number of messages compared to the human players it tends to beat, taking advantage of its ability to handle multiple simultaneous conversations.
However, Cicero has some limitations. Firstly, it is almost entirely honest and does not betray or go back on its deals, unlike human players who often engage in dishonesty and betrayal as part of their strategy. If human players are aware of this, they can take advantage of Cicero's honesty. Secondly, Cicero is very talkative, which can make it easier for human players to predict its strategies and intentions.
To beat Cicero, players can try to identify its predictable strategy and take advantage of its honesty by forming counter-alliances. Additionally, being aware of Cicero's talkative nature can help players predict its next moves. While Cicero is a significant advancement in AI technology, it is not infallible, and understanding its limitations can help human players gain an edge.
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Informal negotiations
In the game, players can capture military forces and use their armies to take control of strategically important areas. They are allowed to negotiate with each other to form and break alliances in pursuit of total domination. The game is a "zero-sum game", which means that if one player wins, the other loses. The outcome is also deterministic and not dependent on chance.
One of the challenges of playing the game is managing the informal negotiations with other players before making simultaneous moves. This is where Cicero stands out, as it can both play the game well and handle these informal negotiations. This ability to engage in informal negotiations is a result of its natural language processing capabilities, allowing it to exchange messages and form alliances with other players.
However, there are some limitations to Cicero's negotiation strategies. Firstly, Cicero is almost entirely honest and does not renege on deals, which can be a surprising advantage in a game where betrayal and dishonesty are common. If players are aware of this trait, they can take advantage of it. Secondly, Cicero tends to be very talkative, exchanging twice the number of messages with other players compared to non-experts. While this can be an effective strategy for forming alliances, it may also be an unfair advantage due to its ability to handle multiple simultaneous conversations with ease.
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Frequently asked questions
Cicero is good at playing Diplomacy, but it is not unbeatable. It plays at a human level, and about 10% of human players have beaten it.
Cicero is almost entirely honest and does not renege on deals. It is also very talkative, exchanging twice as many messages with other players as the human players it beats.
Knowing that Cicero is honest and does not betray its allies, you can take advantage of this by knowing that it will never betray you.
Diplomacy is a board game invented in 1959 that is set in Europe during World War 1. Each player controls a major European power and the objective is to capture and control strategic cities and provinces to make more military units to eventually take over all of Europe. The game involves a negotiation phase in each round, where players converse to figure out their next steps, which often results in alliances or betrayals.
