Diplomacy Games Interview with Alex Duffy: Diplomacy AI vs Diplomacy AI
Nov 21, 2025
01:42:45
We chat with Alex Duffy who as Head of AI Training at Every Consulting run an amazing project where different AI models competed against each other in Diplomacy. Plus we discuss the upcoming Australian Open tournament.
Intro- The guys introduce the show and Gavin flags he'll be moving further away from Ken, so the show will become more online than face-to-face (0 mins 15 secs)
- They introduce the interview with Alex from Every Consulting and GoodStartLabs about different AI models playing against each other in Diplomacy (4 mins)
- The interview kicks off with Alex discussing the research project he ran at Every Consulting where various AI Large Language Models (LLMs) competed against each other in Diplomacy (6 mins 45 secs)
- Gavin asks Alex how he got into Diplomacy originally (9 mins 50 secs)
- They discuss the thinking behind the project. During his answer he mentions the Twitch stream of the AI models playing against each other - you can view this on their AI Diplomacy Twitch channel (11 mins 15 secs)
- They look at how data should be structured and presented to the LLMs (15 mins 45 secs)
- Alex talks about the different style of play adopted by each LLM - you can read their summary on the Every Consulting AI page (18 mins 45 secs)
- Gavin asks about how different models approached strategy nnd iterative training of the models so they learn from how they perform in games (24 mins)
- Gavin reflects on how he sometimes plays in cycles of play (32 mins)
- They discuss why the game Diplomacy keeps being used researched in the AI space (34 mins)
- Alex introduces his lates project: The Battle of Bots. You can find out more and register your interest on their Battle of the Bots web page (40 mins 30 secs)
- They reflect on the newer generations of players bringing their enhanced technology experience to the game (45 mins)
- Alex asks Gavin and Ken what they've learned from playing Diplomacy to apply to real life (48 mins 30 secs)
- Gavin asks Alex whether he plans to get more into playing Diplomacy face to face (53 mins 45 secs)
- Alex discusses other games he's interested in getting into more (57 mins)
- Just a reminder, you can find out more and register your interest on their Battle of the Bots web page (1 hr 0 mins)
- Ken suggests some games he feels would be appropriate to research. Alex provides his email address to hear listener's suggestions on other games ot look into (1 hr 2 mins)
- They begin wrapping up the interiew (1 hr 5 mins 30 secs)
- The guys reflect on the chat (1 hr 7 mins)
- Gavin is off to compete in the Australian Open, being hosted the weekend of 21 to 23 November. Plus they talk about the Bismark Cup (1 hr 23 mins)
- After some tangental talk, they return full circle to the Australian Open. Gavin mentions doing some recordings when not playing, however, with his house move he can't find the recorder which is packed somewhere (1 hr 33 mins)
- They discuss getting and staying in the right zone, and reflect on Mitchell and Webb's the Inebriati sketch (1 hr 37 mins 30 secs)
- Gavin incorrectly cites Mitchell and Webb again, but it is actually Stephen Fry and Hugh Lawrie's Treaty of Westphalia sketch (1 hr 39 mins 30 secs)
- The guys start wrapping up the show (1 hr 40 mins)
Venue: At home
Drinks for the interview:
Gavin: Proximo tempranillo from Rioja, Spain
Ken: Poet's Country Crisp lager from Yenda, NSW
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Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.