ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Monte Carlo tree search

Monte Carlo Tree Search is like a game where you have to make the best move possible by looking at all the different things you could do, and then testing out what could happen if you do them in your head. It's like when you're playing a game of rock-paper-scissors with your friends, and you try to think about what they might do next and what you should do to win.

Imagine you're playing a game with trees. There are so many different branches and paths you could take! It would be impossible to try every single one of them to see which one leads to the best outcome. But a smart computer program like Monte Carlo Tree Search can help.

Here's how it works: the program starts by looking at all the possible moves you could make, and then picks one at random. It then keeps track of what happened after that move - did it lead to a good outcome or a bad one? Then it tries another move, and keeps track of that, and eventually it has tried enough moves that it has a good idea of which one is best.

But the program doesn't stop there. It keeps trying different moves, and keeps updating its idea of what is the best move. It thinks about all the different things that could happen, like if the other player makes a good move or a bad move, or if the tree has more or fewer branches than it thought.

After trying enough moves, Monte Carlo Tree Search can predict the best move to make with a really high accuracy, which can help you win your game!

So, in simple terms, Monte Carlo Tree Search is a computer program that helps you make the best move possible in a game by trying out all the different possible moves and figuring out which one is the best based on what happens next.