News

Actions

Google's machine learning game "Quick, Draw" tries to guess your artwork

Posted at 7:46 AM, Nov 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-17 12:38:19-05

Google is putting a new spin on a classic game.

On a quest to show people how machine learning can be a hoot, Google has launched "Quick, Draw." It's like Pictionary, but with artificial intelligence. Fascinating, right?

The web application is an A.I. experiment that needs your artistic skills to work. 

First Google's Quick, Draw gives you a word and then sets you loose with a blank page. You have 20 seconds to draw.

A neural network reportedly studies both the picture and the movement of your strokes - and then makes a guess like a good ole Pictionary partner.

Even if it doesn't guess right, Google researchers say in a video posted to the company's developer YouTube page that you are still helping it learn. Maybe next time, it will know that those squiggly lines you drew were in fact coming together to form a bridge.

It's a bridge, Google! It's a bridge.

In other words, this is just a really good distraction if you're trying to waste a couple of minutes of work.