Last updated on 5 January 2023
How can a machine recognise what any hand-made drawing represents? as imperfect as it is? QuickDraw is a small free online game that will allow you to become aware of the progress of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
A tool nestled in one of the laboratories dedicated to AI Tools hosted by the Google Giant which has been conducting research in this field for a long time now.
Draw, the computer will guess what you are representing
The game offered on this mini site is based on machine learning. You scribble with your mouse or finger on a tablet, and a neural network tries to guess what your drawing represents. The challenge is to represent six objects or concepts. The computer will tell you in real time what it sees when you draw. Unsettling.
Of course, the machine does not always manage to see what you want to represent, but the more you play, the better the network gets. This is the secret of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The more you use it, the more the machine learns.
Guess what you draw thanks to other people's drawings
QuickDraw records all drawings and other scribbles made by all users of the game. It will thus gradually learn to recognise all possible versions of a representation of an object.
More than 15 million players have made millions of drawings Playing Quick, Draw. These scribbles are a unique dataset that can help developers form new neural networks, helping researchers see patterns in how people around the world draw. It is dizzying but damn effective. Take the test.
All drawings in the game are open access and open source. How does the machine recognise a drawing of an aircraft? Well, comparing it to the 135 831 plane drawings made by … players.
It is made in Google but the experience is nevertheless enlightening to project itself on the current digital developments. QuickDraw mirrors other experiences, such as Art Palette, led by the Californian giant shows the growing place of data and artificial intelligence.
Then it's up to you to play. The site QuickDraw is free without advertising and without prior registration. A word is displayed and you have 20 seconds to try to illustrate it. If the interface recognises the word, you mark a dot.
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