The world of table tennis may be in for a shake-up after Sony's AI division unveiled Ace — an autonomous robot that can compete with expert table tennis players. This is the first time a robot has achieved "expert-level play in a commonly played competitive sport in the physical world," Sony AI representatives said in a statement . Article continues below "This breakthrough is much bigger than table tennis," Peter Stone , chief scientist at Sony AI, said in the statement. "It represents a landmark moment in AI research, showing, for the first time, that an AI system can perceive, reason, and act effectively in complex, rapidly changing real-world environments that demand precision and speed." A study detailing how the robot works was published April 22 in the journal Nature . The new robotic table tennis player won three out of five matches with the elite players and boasted a 75% serve return rate.…