AI is advancing, and the world of poker is not immune to its impact. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Ned Ludd

In 1779, a young weaving apprentice in Nottingham, England supposedly smashed two stocking frames after being criticized and instructed to change his method. While wags might suggest there’s nothing remarkable about random acts of vandalism in Nottingham, that singular act defined the life of the young apprentice and ensured the preservation to this day of his name, Ned Ludd.

one of the very few tactics that workers could use in the Industrial Revolution

Luddites get a bad name. The term has become synonymous with people who oppose the advance of technology, but modern historians argue that machine-breaking was one of the very few tactics that workers could use in the Industrial Revolution to increase pressure on employers, undermine lower-paid competing workers, and create solidarity among workers.

For example, historian Eric Hobsbawm writes:

“These attacks on machines did not imply any necessary hostility to machinery as such; machinery was just a conveniently exposed target against which an attack could be made.”

He called their machine wrecking “collective bargaining by riot,” which had been a tactic used in Britain since the Restoration because factories were scattered throughout the country, and that made it impractical to hold large-scale strikes.

The rise of the machines

Whether it’s fair or not, every technological advance has been greeted by sceptics who think it will usher in catastrophe. In my experience, people tend to be generally wary of new technology until they get used to it, then overly complacent. For example, in the early days of the internet people were paranoid about sharing any personal information, even their real name or a photo, hiding behind monikers and avatars. Fast forward 30 years and most of us practically live online.

Existential risk from artificial intelligence is the idea that substantial progress could lead to our extinction, or an irreversible global catastrophe. The argument goes something like this: we dominate other species because our brains possess distinctive capabilities other animals lack. If AI were to surpass us in intelligence, it might become uncontrollable. Just as the fate of the mountain gorilla depends on human goodwill, the fate of humanity could depend on the actions of a future artificial superintelligence.

The probability of catastrophe due to AI is widely debated. In 2022, a survey of AI researchers with a 17% response rate found that the majority believed there is a 10% or greater chance that human inability to control AI will cause an existential catastrophe, with some experts estimating the probability as high as 99%.

Poker and AI

Most of the talk around AI and poker revolves around the perceived threat from AI powered bots, or human’s using AI poker tools in real time to inform or even make their decisions. It remains to be seen if AI will kill online poker, or at least kill the ability of non cheating humans to have a real edge and be long term profitable.

it stands to reason that AI could be our most powerful weapon against cheats

There is for now much less focus on the potential positives of AI. It’s already being used as a powerful training tool by the likes of GTOWizard, and there’s no reason why AI couldn’t be used, for example, to detect cheats. If anything that we can do AI can do better, it stands to reason that AI could be our most powerful weapon against cheats using AI. Maybe the best thing to fight a bad guy with AI is a good guy with AI.

I am robot

The rumours are true: I am now a robot. Barry Carter and I are thrilled to bring my poker books to life on Edio, a new AI-powered learning tool!

For the first time ever, you can access all our books with chapter summaries, interactive AI quizzes, leaderboards, and even a “Doke AI” to answer your questions. For those of you who struggle to find time to study, or simply don’t have the time to read the entire books, this is a simple but effective solution to get your head around the concepts I teach. It’s basicaly an AI-powered Duolingo for poker.

Doke AI will answer any of your poker related questions in terms of my own advice and learnings in the books. It is also given data on your performance on the quizzes, making it personalised to each individual.

This is available now:

In the app store: https://apps.apple.com/ie/app/edio/id6504637708

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cc.edio.edio

If you don’t want to pay, you can still sign up and do one free quiz per day.

So far the reviews from those who have seen it are glowing. Even hardened Luddite Mrs Doke has proclaimed AI Doke as better than human Doke. Ok, so her actual words were “it’s almost as useless as you are”, but when you think about it: different framing, same meaning.

One country where early adoption has been high is Japan (unsurprising given that countries unusually tech positive culture). These days AI is fluent in most languages, which means we will be able to offer the product in lots of languages, even those into which the books have not yet been translated. Coming soon: Japanese Doke bot!