Microsoft has decided to do something rather interesting, and that is to open-source the AI development platform that is based on Minecraft. The platform, which is known as AIX, is currently in beta testing, and only a selected few can use it.

Researchers in the private beta will be able to use AIX in Minecraft to test their projects. Furthermore, we understand that Microsoft will make available AIX this summer to all under an open-source license. The company did not state which open-source license the product will fall under.

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This announcement comes at a time when Google is grabbing attention with its DeepMind and an AI program known as AlphaGo. The AI showed off its stuff in Seoul recently where it won five straight games of Go, but ultimately lost to a player who goes by the name, Lee Se-dol.

Microsoft on the other hand, is more interested in having AIX used to help with general intelligence than anything else. According to the software giant, general intelligence "is more similar to the nuanced and complex way humans learn and make decisions."

In today's age, computers can do complicated tasks such as recognizing speech and words. Computers can also translate entire sentences in a single go along with recognizing images and faces.

"A computer algorithm may be able to take one task and do it as well or even better than an average adult, but it can't compete with how an infant is taking in all sorts of inputs - light, smell, touch, sound, discomfort - and learning that if you cry chances are good that Mom will feed you," according to a senior writer at Microsoft, Allison Linn.

What Microsoft is doing here should help with robotics and other forms of artificial intelligence. It should also allow researchers to use less money when creating a robot. Usually, if a researcher wants to create a robot to climb a tree, they would have to repair it each time it falls. However, by using AIX, the majority of the testing can be done in Minecraft.

As time goes by, we should see the fruits of Microsoft's labor. Just imagine every human on this planet having their very own personal robot companion, wouldn't that be a treat?