Forget about an AI stealing your job, even pigs can be trained to use computers
(2021/02/11)
- Reference: 1613049193
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/02/11/pigs_can_play_computer_games/
- Source link:
Cute, intelligent and delicious with a tendency for totalitarianism, pigs have a lot going for them. But they're also capable of grasping video games – of a sort.
Writing in the [1]Frontiers in Psychology journal, US researchers explained how they were able to train two Panepinto micro pigs and two Yorkshire pigs to "manipulate a joystick that controlled movement of a cursor displayed on a computer monitor."
[2]
Heck, that's pretty much sysadmin territory already.
The swine were convinced to nudge the joystick with their snouts via treats (dog food pellets), and 10-minute training sessions took place once a day, five days a week, until they were able to do the task on command. After two weeks, "the pigs reliably performed the behavior."
[3]
The porky quartet were then trained individually to "watch the screen", again through the dispensing of snacks. The "watch the screen" command was then paired with "joystick", and when the pigs bonked the controller they were rewarded with, you guessed it, more snacks.
The game element of the study required the pigs to move the cursor to collide with three, two or one-walled targets in random positions on the screen, which would trigger a "bloop" sound – and more food.
The two Yorkshire pigs struggled with three-walled targets but performed "above chance", meaning it was clear they weren't doing it by accident, on two and one-walled targets.
That was until the pair, who started the study at three months old, were deemed too mature – and too fat – to dabble in computer games any longer ( [4]some of us are beyond help ).
"After 12 weeks of training, Hamlet and Omelet were terminated from the experiment because they had grown too large to stand long enough to complete sessions, and also no longer fit within the constraints of the test pen," the boffins wrote.
Two-year-old Ebony and Ivory, the micro pigs, were trained and tested for much longer, though their performance was less clear – both did better than chance on three walls or one, but only Ivory succeeded on the two-walled targets.
Concluding, the researchers wrote: "Overall, all pigs performed significantly above chance on one-walled targets, which indicates that, to some extent, all acquired the association between the joystick and cursor movement.
"That the pigs achieved the level of success they did on a task that was significantly outside their normal frame of reference [is] in itself remarkable, and indicative of their behavioral and cognitive flexibility. Their high level of social motivation to perform the task was also noteworthy. Although food rewards associated with the task were likely a motivating factor, the social contact the pigs experienced with their trainer also appeared to be very important."
However, they noted that the experiment could have been improved because the equipment had been designed to test the cognitive abilities of monkeys and apes – creatures who actually have hands. The subjects were also known to be far-sighted, which may have made tracking the cursor's movement difficult.
But the results are clear: pigs are smart enough to play rudimentary video games. And while we can all agree that four legs are good, chilling in front of a screen with a controller and snacks is infinitely better. Consider that the next time you tuck into your sausages and bacon.
[5]
Now, if you'll excuse me, I know what I'd like for lunch. ®
Get our [6]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631755/full
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_bootnotes/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YCViq@DU@W1hp8DLx2gLCgAAAAA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_bootnotes/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YCViq@DU@W1hp8DLx2gLCgAAAAA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://search.theregister.com/?q=the+rpg&advanced=1&author=richard+currie&date=the+dawn+of+time&results_per_page=20
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_bootnotes/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YCViq@DU@W1hp8DLx2gLCgAAAAA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Writing in the [1]Frontiers in Psychology journal, US researchers explained how they were able to train two Panepinto micro pigs and two Yorkshire pigs to "manipulate a joystick that controlled movement of a cursor displayed on a computer monitor."
[2]
Heck, that's pretty much sysadmin territory already.
The swine were convinced to nudge the joystick with their snouts via treats (dog food pellets), and 10-minute training sessions took place once a day, five days a week, until they were able to do the task on command. After two weeks, "the pigs reliably performed the behavior."
[3]
The porky quartet were then trained individually to "watch the screen", again through the dispensing of snacks. The "watch the screen" command was then paired with "joystick", and when the pigs bonked the controller they were rewarded with, you guessed it, more snacks.
The game element of the study required the pigs to move the cursor to collide with three, two or one-walled targets in random positions on the screen, which would trigger a "bloop" sound – and more food.
The two Yorkshire pigs struggled with three-walled targets but performed "above chance", meaning it was clear they weren't doing it by accident, on two and one-walled targets.
That was until the pair, who started the study at three months old, were deemed too mature – and too fat – to dabble in computer games any longer ( [4]some of us are beyond help ).
"After 12 weeks of training, Hamlet and Omelet were terminated from the experiment because they had grown too large to stand long enough to complete sessions, and also no longer fit within the constraints of the test pen," the boffins wrote.
Two-year-old Ebony and Ivory, the micro pigs, were trained and tested for much longer, though their performance was less clear – both did better than chance on three walls or one, but only Ivory succeeded on the two-walled targets.
Concluding, the researchers wrote: "Overall, all pigs performed significantly above chance on one-walled targets, which indicates that, to some extent, all acquired the association between the joystick and cursor movement.
"That the pigs achieved the level of success they did on a task that was significantly outside their normal frame of reference [is] in itself remarkable, and indicative of their behavioral and cognitive flexibility. Their high level of social motivation to perform the task was also noteworthy. Although food rewards associated with the task were likely a motivating factor, the social contact the pigs experienced with their trainer also appeared to be very important."
However, they noted that the experiment could have been improved because the equipment had been designed to test the cognitive abilities of monkeys and apes – creatures who actually have hands. The subjects were also known to be far-sighted, which may have made tracking the cursor's movement difficult.
But the results are clear: pigs are smart enough to play rudimentary video games. And while we can all agree that four legs are good, chilling in front of a screen with a controller and snacks is infinitely better. Consider that the next time you tuck into your sausages and bacon.
[5]
Now, if you'll excuse me, I know what I'd like for lunch. ®
Get our [6]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631755/full
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_bootnotes/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YCViq@DU@W1hp8DLx2gLCgAAAAA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_bootnotes/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YCViq@DU@W1hp8DLx2gLCgAAAAA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://search.theregister.com/?q=the+rpg&advanced=1&author=richard+currie&date=the+dawn+of+time&results_per_page=20
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_bootnotes/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YCViq@DU@W1hp8DLx2gLCgAAAAA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Heck, that's pretty much sysadmin territory already.
chivo243
Shaddup already... I thought we weren't supposed to let this get out!
Done before?
CzechNeck
Am I the only one who remembers almost identical research being reported on back in the mid-90s?
Three-legged pigs...
JacobZ
...because you don't eat a pig like that all at once.
You have to know the joke...
Pigs have elevated privileges...
Anonymous Coward
...because they belong to the suid family.
Re: Pigs have elevated privileges...
vonBureck
You owe me a new keyboard, have an upvote for that splendid punnage.
Hamlet and Omelet were terminated from the experiment because they had grown too large
Neil Barnes
I scent the delightful odour of bacon. Mmmm.
Long sighted
AMBxx
Now we need to give the pig glasses.
"they had grown too large to stand long enough"
Mike 137
Questionable breed? I wonder how wild boar would have "stood up" to the test - they might even be smarter as well.
Re: "they had grown too large to stand long enough"
Blackjack
Even worse, not only they are bigger, they are stronger.
Results not unexpected
Cynic_999
After playing video games over a long period, the pigs became fat and useless. Something that parents of teenagers have also noticed.
Fruit and Nutcase
Now, if you'll excuse me, I know what I'd like for lunch."
That's one way to ensure they don't take your work on the monthly gaming column
There'll be Pigs flying drones next
Fruit and Nutcase
They do that already?
Are pigs hard to train or not?
Blackjack
I have read conflicting articles about it.
For example the main reason pigs were replaced by dogs when it comes to hunting truffles is that dogs won't eat them.
..and pigs might fly..
Zimmer
Be careful with the joystick training. Too much of it, with a piggery next to an airfield, before you know it - bacon WILL go up....
========> the flying jacket with the goggles in the top pocket, please..
The National Cyber Crime Unit
Yes, that's where they were first observed...