An artificial intelligence algorithm is putting humans to shame by solving a Rubik's Cube in just over a second. The algorithm, called DeepCubeA, was created by researchers at University of California, Irvine. The results are described in a study published Monday in Nature Machine Intelligence.
The algorithm was presented with 10 billion combinations for the cube. The goal was to decode them all in 30 moves, which exceeds or is equal to human performance. DeepCubeA was then tested on 1,000 combinations and solved them all, doing so in the least number of moves around 60% of the time.
Pierre Baldi, an author of the study and professor of computer science at UCI, told The BBC the algorithm "learned on its own." He added that he believed the "AI's form of reasoning is completely different from a human's."
The authors also discussed their research in a paper published last June, which described a machine that could solve a Rubik's Cube without algorithms created by human beings.
They're not the only ones who've looked for shortcuts to solving the complex puzzle. Last year, an MIT robotics student and a software developer built a robot that can solve a Rubik's Cube in 0.38 seconds. And for anyone looking for an easy way out, there's a self-solving Rubik's Cube that'll spare you plenty of time and stress.
