Humans gaming find intuitive solutions faster than AI algorithms for physics puzzles

Computers may have us beat at chess and checkers, but new research suggests our brains still have an edge when it comes to solving certain tricky problems thanks to a very human trait: intuition. “The big surprise we had was that some of the players actually had solutions that were of high quality and of shorter duration than any computer algorithms could find,” said Jacob Friis Sherson, a physicist at Aarhus University who co-wrote the study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. “And that’s very important here because we have a problem that’s just so complicated you will never be finished if you attack it systematically.” Frank Wilhelm-Mauch, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Saarbruecken who wasn’t involved in the study, said the Danish scientists had found a way to exploit the way humans intuitively find solutions to fairly complex problems by simplifying them, thereby achieving a solution that might not be as mathematically perfect as that produced by a computer but definitely more practical. Wilhelm-Mauch said the results of the study would likely affect the entire field of quantum computing, because similar problems exist “like sand on a beach.” The Danish scientists are hoping to build on their existing work as word of the game and its contribution to quantum physics spreads, drawing in more players. “It’s slightly encouraging that there are problems where we humans are still superior to computer algorithms,” said Sherson.