Screenshot of Civilization IV, a later version
of the game that MIT’s computer played.

What’s the News: Many video gamers scoff at the idea of actually reading the instruction manual for a game. But a manual can not only teach you how to play a game, it can also give you the basics of language—that is, if you’re a machine-learning computer. Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab have now designed a computer system that can learn the meaning of certain words by playing complex games like Civilization II and comparing on-screen information to the game’s instruction manual.

How the Heck:

The researchers, lead by computer scientist Regina Barzilay, began by giving their machine-learning system very basic knowledge about Civilization II, such as the various actions it can take (moving the cursor, clicking, etc.). The computer also had access to the words and other information that popped up on-screen—though it didn’t understand what the text and objects meant—and it knew when it won or lost ...