I'm not really an AI person, but I think it's interesting, yes:
Each individual decision is simple (choose from 4 directions), but the overall strategy is difficult (the arrival of each new piece has a random element).
The game tree[0] is awkward to draw in full, because of this random element. If we can draw it out well enough to analyse it, we can come up with a perfect play algorithm that wins as often as possible. Tic-tac-toe is 'solved' in this sense: we always know what the best play is.
Since 2048 remains unsolved (for now), AI algorithms which simplify and try to approximate that process come into play. As long as nobody has come up with perfect play, it's still interesting to see who can come up with the best play.
2048 is relatively simple game to remain unsolved, so it's nice and accessible to apply algorithms to (and still relevant to do so).
Each individual decision is simple (choose from 4 directions), but the overall strategy is difficult (the arrival of each new piece has a random element).
The game tree[0] is awkward to draw in full, because of this random element. If we can draw it out well enough to analyse it, we can come up with a perfect play algorithm that wins as often as possible. Tic-tac-toe is 'solved' in this sense: we always know what the best play is.
Since 2048 remains unsolved (for now), AI algorithms which simplify and try to approximate that process come into play. As long as nobody has come up with perfect play, it's still interesting to see who can come up with the best play.
2048 is relatively simple game to remain unsolved, so it's nice and accessible to apply algorithms to (and still relevant to do so).
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_tree