Video Game AI

I read an interesting article by Keith Stuart at The Guardian ‘Think, fight, feel: how video game artificial intelligence is evolving‘. He had an interesting narrative about how the use of AI is transforming our in-game interactions. Traditionally NPCs have been static, pre-programmed, boring characters. I used to play a lot of PC/ Console games and it’s obvious to tell a real-player from an in-game character. This has never been an issue, however as storylines evolve and the player has a larger impact on the outcome, NPCs that also evolve is going to be a key component of gameplay.

These new characters can mimic human players. Now, this is exciting.

What prompted me to write this small post is the potential for AI across a whole host of other industries. We read a lot about AI in business and on a daily basis I see new AI-driven software, however, there are so many applications in other arenas.

I had a quick think and came up with the below as talking points.

Gaming – we can’t start here without mentioning Alpha Go. Training, new strategy, adaptive NPCs. Progressive difficulty could be amazing. Let the game increase in complexity and rewards based on the player level.

Education – I’m yet to see an AI-powered language acquisition tool. This would be sweet. How about adapting a digital textbook to a child?

Healthcare – Diagnosis and Automation. Give medical professionals the face-time they need with clients. How much of the day-to-day can be automated or sped up with the intervention of AI?

Business – there are so many processes that can be automated in a business environment. Let’s make room for creativity and automate the minutae. How many hours a week could we save without answering pointless emails or undergoing the same old tasks.

Sports, Travel, Martial Arts, Job Search – wow there are so many applications.

I might turn this into a mini series as I’d really like to delve deep into one topic to fully explore the potentials.

What are your thoughts?

T3B