PUBG is using AI to hunt down cheaters

AI in video games has become an intensely hot topic, and not everyone is so keen on even talking about it. This tech has been in games for longer than you'd expect, but its modern capabilities are beginning to seep in, with indie developers trying to let AI systems design entire titles themselves.

It's a troubling time, with the potential of art and narratives derived from an amalgam of other properties that devs don't have the rights for. PUBG is the next major title to use the advancement of AI to its advantage, however, this one is trying to use it for good.

PUBG introduces AI anti-cheat

Click to enlarge

A new routine letter from the PUBG anti-cheat team has been released, but rather than just revealing how many players have recently been banned, players have been introduced to the game's new plans.

"To enhance our countermeasures, the PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Anti-Cheat Team initiated the development of a machine learning model that could learn the characteristics and patterns of Mastery Level abuse," reads the blog post. It's specifically been targeting Ranked with a lethal wave of bannings.

Given the bad press AI has been getting recently, this immediately sparks concern for some. Still, if a machine learning is helping the team do their jobs rather than make an attempt to take them, then this is a pretty great revelation. Especially as it seems to be working.

AI is genuinely helping PUBG weed out cheaters

Click to enlarge

Unlike Call of Duty's pretty lacklustre RICOCHET, PUBG's AI advancements are stopping cheaters in their tracks. "Utilizing this model, we have expanded and refined the criteria for detecting disruptive players throughout May and June of this year," says the post. "As a result, we have observed several positive changes.

"The number of bans issued against disruptive accounts has increased by over threefold compared to the period before the introduction of this model." If you want to crunch the numbers, Krafton claims it's weeding out an impressive average of 60,000 cheating accounts a week.

Better yet, the AI anti-cheat had been known to boot a maximum of 100,000 accounts a week, and while this is only a small dent to the cheating problem, it's a start. Despite the obvious grumbles about AI, PUBG has zeroed in on cheaters in a pretty efficient way. The robots are on our side. For now.