You’re on the right track with Minimax and Alpha-Beta Pruning. Start by defining all valid moves for your pieces (move 1–2 cells, clone 1 cell), then implement Minimax to simulate turns and evaluate board states. Use a scoring function (e.g., +1 per AI piece, -1 per opponent) and pick the move with the best outcome. Add Alpha-Beta Pruning to optimize performance.

You can check out this article for a simplified intro to AI concepts.