Michael Bowling named a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence

Michael Bowling, Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii, was elected a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).

Also a Professor at the University of Alberta, Bowling is recognized for his contributions and leadership in the field of AI, including his work producing theoretical advancements in the world of imperfect (or hidden) information games and for playing an instrumental role in establishing the field of deep reinforcement learning.

“On behalf of all of us at Amii, congratulations to Michael on his induction as a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in recognition of his many contributions to the global AI community,” says Cam Linke, Amii CEO. “Over the years, he has served as a key member of our organization, driving forward world-leading advancements, raising up the next generation of computing scientists, and helping to guide and steward Amii as we work to inspire world-changing machine intelligence for good and for all.”

“Michael has been a central figure in advancing our understanding of what it means to be an intelligent being – a key question in the development of artificial intelligence,” says Richard S. Sutton, Chief Scientific Advisor at Amii. “Through his work, which pushes the bounds of games and reinforcement learning research, he has a demonstrated track record of leading-edge discoveries and theoretical advancements that have helped propel our field forward. We are pleased to congratulate Michael on his recognition as a AAAI Fellow.”

Founded in 1979, AAAI is a nonprofit scientific society devoted to advancing the scientific understanding of the mechanisms underlying thought and intelligent behaviour and their embodiment in machines. AAAI aims to promote research in, and responsible use of, artificial intelligence. The AAAI Fellows program started in 1990 as a way of recognizing individuals who have made significant, sustained contributions—usually over at least a ten-year period—to the field of artificial intelligence.

Since that time, five other Amii researchers have been named AAAI Fellows. Bowling’s inclusion now brings the total to six:

• Richard S. Sutton (2001) – Chief Scientific Advisor, Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii (Professor, University of Alberta)
• Russ Greiner (2007) – Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii (Professor, University of Alberta)
• Robert Holte (2011) – Fellow at Amii (Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta)
• Dale Schuurmans (2017) – Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii (Professor, University of Alberta)
• Kevin Leyton-Brown (2018) – Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii (Professor, University of British Columbia)

Learn more about Michael and his research below.

Games are serious business

Bowling is fascinated by the problem of how computers can learn to play games through experience.

“I love games. They’re a window into the thought processes and decisions we all make every day as intelligent beings,” he says. “Games are neat little packages of content that let us create AI that can reason, plan, strategize – even play – all things that are fundamental aspects of intelligence.”

He is best known for his work in poker, most notably on two milestone advances, both published in Science: Cepheus ‘essentially’ solved the game of heads-up limit Texas hold’em in 2015, and in late 2016, DeepStack became the first AI to beat human professionals at heads-up no-limit Texas hold’em. Both systems represent theoretical leaps forward in the world of imperfect (or hidden) information games.

In leading the development of the Arcade Learning Environment, which launched in 2013, Bowling also played a pivotal role in the adoption of Atari as a key challenge problem and testbed for AI researchers across the world. The Arcade Learning Environment was instrumental in establishing the subfield of deep reinforcement learning. Bowling is now turning his attention to games such as Hanabi, which have an element of cooperation or that have more than two agents interacting together.

“Ultimately, my research is about uncovering what I consider to be fundamental aspects of intelligence,” he explains. “We often think of AI as task-driven, even cold and calculating – but I see no reason why we can’t have AI that’s softer, more like the biological intelligence we encounter every day.”

“I want to create systems that are more aware that they exist in a world with others – with the ability to learn, plan, strategize, coordinate and cooperate – all things we learn through the act of play.”

Bowling is a full professor at the University of Alberta, a Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii and a Research Scientist at DeepMind in Edmonton, AB. He is also a principal investigator in the Reinforcement Learning and Artificial Intelligence (RLAI) Lab and leader of the Computer Poker Research Group – both at the University of Alberta. He has been an associate editor for top publications such as the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research and has sat on the programming committees for more than 50 academic conferences, including AAAI, NeurIPS, ICML and IJCAI.

With more than 100 papers published in scientific journals and refereed conferences and as the academic supervisor of over 30 early-stage researchers, Michael has been the recipient of numerous research and teaching awards.

His passion for mentorship is partly what has kept him at Amii and the University of Alberta.

“There is no substitute for mentoring students; it’s one of the things I like best about being a Professor and working in academia,” says Bowling. “I have the opportunity to teach, mentor and learn from brilliant individuals, and I’m continually amazed when I see them go on to do awesome things throughout their career. I’m blessed to be part of that journey.”

Bowling’s work has been featured on the television programs Scientific American Frontiers, National Geographic Today, and Discovery Channel Canada, as well appearing in the New York Times, Wired, on CBC and BBC radio, and twice in exhibits at the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, DC.

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