Quantum physics, the mysterious concept that is only comparable to the Big Bang theory, has been making huge waves of debates and spurn out many new concepts and ideas. They might even create reverse-engineering for food, or help us win the fight against zerg rush. Who knows? The unpredictable nature of quantum physics has been so unique, that it has been mimicked by Queen’s University computer scientists to invent a new version of chess AI.

In the quantum chess computer game formed by undergraduate computer science student Alice Wismath, a piece that should be a knight could concurrently also be a queen, a pawn or something else. The players would not know what the AI’s next step is, as it is rather unpredictable, unlike conventional AIs that have mapped out steps and waypoints that are dead.

“It was very weird,” said Ernesto Posse, a Queen’s postdoctoral researcher who took part in a recent “quantum chess” tournament at the university in Kingston, Ont. “You only know what a piece really is once you touch the piece. Basically, planning ahead is impossible.”

SOURCE via CBC Canada