Based on “DeepMimic: Example-Guided Deep Reinforcement Learning of Physics-Based Character Skills” by Xue Bin Jason, Pieter Abbeel, Sergey Levine, Michiel van de Panne.

Nikita Diakur decided to cope with his failed athleticism by learning to backflip through a copy of himself. The avatar feels no pain and keeps going regardless of failure. The avatar learns with the help of machine learning. It observes videos of humans and attempts to imitate their movements, learning from its mistakes and improving over time, much like humans do.

Diakur finds the process both magical and frightening. Magical because the AI so closely resembles human behavior, and frightening because the technology appears to have no ceiling. The short documentary explores ambition, fear, and the absence of fear, as well as the tension between control and uncertainty, rationality and emotion, and the desire to excel. It reflects on technology, its rapid acceleration, and the acceptance of failure.