13:13 - Skynet vs. HAL 9000

[UMPIRE]

SEASON 13, ROUND 13

Skynet

Slot: The Team's Artificial Intelligence
Season Wins: 1
Season Losses: 1
Fantasy Team Page
Read more about Skynet at this Wiki
Official Site: MGM

HAL 9000

Slot: The Team's Artificial Intelligence
Season Wins: 1
Season Losses: 1
Fantasy Team Page
Read more about HAL 9000 at this Wiki
Official Site: Warner Bros.

Battle Terrain
Team A.I. Challenge: Chess

[Pizzaguy2995]

Hal 9000 probably wins. Hal was designed with problem solving skills and interpreting emotional behaviors which means he’ll quickly figure out Skynet’s motivations and tactics and counter them in the most efficient manner possible. 

Skynet’s being a military ai will ultimately be it’s downfall as it’s programming will drive it to press forward aggressively and try to destroy it’s opponent quickly, which is an ill suited strategy for a game like chess. Heck the fact that it ultimately failed it’s original goal of destroying humanity despite having the element of surprise on it’s side and had to resort to cheating via time travel proves that as a military commander Skynet’s tactics are ultimately very flawed.

[DSkillz]

Hmm ... Skynet was able to essentially take over the world, which indicates its skill at strategy. From what I can tell, HAL doesn't have the same kind of experience. 

[Pizzaguy2995]

On 1/16/2024 at 1:24 AM, DSkillz said:

Hmm ... Skynet was able to essentially take over the world, which indicates its skill at strategy. From what I can tell, HAL doesn't have the same kind of experience. 

But Skynet DID NOT take over the world my dude, it failed utterly. Despite having the advantage of a surprise attack that wiped out half of humanity and crippling the two most powerful military nations Skynet was outmaneuvered and outmatched by a bunch of rag tagged rebels lead by a civilian who had zero military experience prior to this. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for Skynet’s supposed skill at strategy.

The people who are the best at chess are the types who are always thinking two or three steps ahead of time, that always have a backup plan just in case their original idea get’s blocked. The worst thing you can do is make a knee jerk reaction and move a pawn without thinking, especially in reaction to something your opponent did. In chess that’s called “forcing a move” and it’s one of the most common tactics that grandmaster chess players use to put their opponents on the defensive and move them towards a check.

Skynet was said to have made the decision to destroy humanity “shortly” after it was activated, according to Kyle Reese in the first Terminator it "decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination". That is the definition of a knee jerk reaction that was made in the heat of the moment, and it shows that Skynet despite being a cold hearted machine is capable of human emotions such as overconfidence and panic, ones that ultimately contributed to it’s own defeat and destruction. HAL meanwhile showed that he was capable of being more subtle and cunning with how he went about killing his human adversaries, first earning their trust as a member of the crew all the while laying the foundation of their deaths by planning exactly how each astronaut would react to a situation and putting them in an unwinnable spot or a check. Sure he ultimately failed in his mission but HAL more then showed that he had greater capacity to plan ahead and force his opponents into making costly mistakes, which will serve him well when going against an opponent like Skynet whose way too aggressive and short sighted to excel at chess.

[Pizzaguy2995]

Also unlike Skynet, HAL was actually shown playing chess and being very good at it.

[UMPIRE]

Match Final Results

Skynet: 6
HAL 9000: 4