Artificial intelligence systems such as AlphaZero have demonstrated their ability to play strategic games at an expert level. However, little research has explored the applications of these algorithms for educational purposes. To explore this gap, we developed a tutor for Gomoku, a strategic game similar to tic-tac-toe. Our tutor can provide users with immediate feedback and hints, and supports users in engaging in after-action reviews. These capabilities are powered by an expert model that we discovered using AlphaZero. We employed this tutor in an experimental study to investigate two research questions: 1) Can Game AI models, which are inhuman in their expertise, provide guidance that improves human learning? 2) How do different types of Game AI derived feedback affect people’s learning? We analyze how participants use this tutor to learn Gomoku and how tutor feedback and its timing affect learning. Our work demonstrates new pedagogical uses for Game AI models.

gomoku_interface

Relevant Publications

Zhang, Q., & MacLellan, C. J. (2022, June). (A) I Will Teach You to Play Gomoku: Exploring the Use of Game AI to Teach People. In Proceedings of the Ninth ACM Conference on Learning@ Scale (pp. 263-266).