The AI Revolution in Gaming
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Chapter One - AI Is Already Here
2.1 The Use of AI in Gaming History
2.2 Examples of AI in Video Games
- Chapter Two - The Bad News
3.1 The Negative Impact of AI on Gaming
3.2 AI and Low-Quality Games
- Chapter Three - The Good News
4.1 The Potential of AI in Video Games
4.2 AI and NPC Behavior
4.3 AI and MMORPGs
- Conclusion
Article:
Will AI Save Or Ruin Gaming?
Introduction
Gamers don’t like change. There’s a reason why people will Continue to play the old classics like Minecraft or Ocarina of Time many years, or even decades, after their release. We like the comfy familiarity these games offer. But sometimes, change is inevitable. With powerful Artificial Intelligence programs like ChatGPT taking the world by storm, it’s only a matter of time before developers start using them to produce video games. It’s a dangerous Scenario. The use of machine learning technology might lead to gaming’s salvation or its ruin - here’s how.
Chapter One - AI Is Already Here
When people talk about Artificial Intelligence, they often don’t realize that it’s already a fundamental part of human society. Social media algorithms rely heavily on AI to put together a personalized portfolio for every consumer, and customer service chatbots have been answering questions for years now. Gamers are different. We knew long before the release of ChatGPT that AI is an integral part of society - the development of smarter, faster, and more human-like artificial opponents or companions over the years has proven this. We have to look far back to 1978 to find one of the first instances where a game utilized artificial intelligence to improve the player experience. Space Invaders broke new ground by introducing alien opponents that would move and fire according to a few preset Patterns. The same thing could be said of Pac-Man, released in 1980. Each of the four ghosts in the game was given different personalities and would behave differently to give the impression that the player was battling it out against four distinct artificial players. Games have evolved significantly since they moved from the arcade to the living room, and AI opponents have become significantly more powerful as a result.
Sometimes, it can be hard to distinguish between a computer player and a human one. You only have to look to the Xenomorph opponent in Alien Isolation, which actively remembers your movement patterns and behavior to outsmart you, for an example of how far AI has come. Guards in Dishonored 2 will also adapt to your playstyle and learn your attack patterns to defeat you, such as faking an attack to bait out your parry. It’s not just the AI opponents who have improved, either. When Bioshock Infinite was released in 2013, players were amazed by how human-like the game’s companion, Elizabeth, behaved. She’d help the main character out, adapt her behavior depending on which stage of the game you were in, and would help the player out during intense fights. So, AI has been an integral part of the gaming experience for quite some time - any new developments won’t come as much of a shock to gamers as other parts of society.
Chapter Two - The Bad News
AI technology is developing at incredible speed. Last year, most people didn’t think it would be possible for an artificial intelligence program to hold a conversation with a human being. Today, the newly-released GPT-4 model by OpenAI is able to Create computer-generated videos and content that looks like it was made by human hands - all it takes is a few Prompts describing what you need. This has led many to believe content in the future will predominantly be developed by Artificial Intelligence. Some predict that everything from TV shows to music will be created by AI programs in a matter of minutes, each one more intricate than the last. And yes, not even video games will be safe from the AI Wave.
This line of thinking isn’t without reason. If you Type in “AI-generated YouTube channels” on the search bar, you’ll find a whole laundry list of videos that explain how they use ChatGPT to generate video topics, Midjourney to create art, B-Roll footage AI generators to make a background video, and text-to-speech programs to Read out the AI-generated script. With just a few clicks, they’re able to produce fully-fledged YouTube videos that garner views and, thus, ad revenue. Gaming as a medium isn’t exempt from low-quality, cash-grab products. Publishers have been trying to find the best ways of squeezing every last bit of money out of their customers for many years. The advent of powerful AI programs could push these same publishers to greedy extremes. Why bother developing a knock-off game when you can get your AI Tools to build one that’s even more addictive with just a few prompts? ChatGPT and other programs like Midjourney will no doubt give many developers the ability to mass produce low-quality games that have no soul whatsoever. Steam could soon be flooded with these knock-off games, just as Youtube has become infested with low-quality, AI-generated shorts. Sure, it will no doubt be interesting to see what kind of games AI can generate at first, but soon enough, the excitement will wear off. Platforms like Steam might soon have to be thinking about introducing anti-AI detection measures to identify games that haven’t been made by human hands if they haven’t already.
Don’t worry - it’s not all doom and gloom. AI might have some drawbacks, but it also has the potential to take video games to a level unlike anyone has ever seen in its entire history.
Chapter Three - The Good News
The use of Artificial Intelligence in video games brought about a new era in the industry. This Second wave of AI technology could do the same, but maybe not in the ways you first thought. What’s different this time around?
In the past, AI was used to mimic the actions of a human for a predetermined set of tasks assigned by the game’s developers. This meant while AI could learn to adapt to the player’s decisions, it couldn’t make any true decisions of its own and was limited to a number of tasks. ChatGPT-like language models change this landscape completely. Through machine learning, AI is able to learn more about the environment, adapt to the player’s decisions and the game state, and, most importantly, can now develop new skills outside of what the devs originally planned. Machines are now able to take in their surroundings or Gather incredible amounts of data to plan ahead or decide the best course of action in a matter of seconds. This can also lead to NPCs developing their own complex personalities Based on previous interactions.
Let’s say you’re playing a single-player game and face a recurring enemy in the story - how that enemy behaves could be Altered by the AI itself to best suit the way you’ve treated it or engaged with it all game. This is a level above what we currently have. Personally, I think AI will transform gaming beyond NPC behavior. Language models will be key to one of gaming’s most treasured genres - MMORPGs. World of Warcraft remains the king of MMOs even nineteen years after its initial release. While it’s an incredibly impressive game, it has its weaknesses, and few games since have managed to improve on them. Azeroth is a huge, open world, but the characters that inhabit it are often just blank NPCs that stand perfectly still in one spot. The terrain is largely unchanging, meaning that the illusion of the “world” is easily broken.
AI could change this. AI could remold entire worlds into living, breathing entities. Language models could be used to simulate new quests, storylines, and characters every time a new character enters a zone. They can also be programmed to change the terrain or weather to keep things fresh, as well as remember what happened in the past to have a larger impact in the future. This would create millions of unique experiences for everyone involved and would transform MMOs from static sandboxes to vibrant, constantly changing worlds.
Let’s say you’re playing WoW and take your first step into Duskwood. Right now, you’ll always encounter the same thing - the same town, the same quests, the same enemies. The only thing that changes is the players around you. Now, let’s say you step into Duskwood, and a language model is used to analyze your character and come up with a Relevant new storyline within the world with brand new characters nobody has ever seen before, each with their own personality. You would travel across the zone, seeing the world in an entirely new light. The next time you come back, something else could have happened to the town that nobody could have predicted.
If you think this idea is out of this world, I invite you to ask ChatGPT to come up with a storyline with just a few prompts. You’ll be shocked at the level of Detail it’s able to produce. If we can get these powerful programs to serve as 24/7 storytellers that keep entire worlds and plotlines alive, the gaming industry as we know it could be improved forever. In fact, the developers of the Unity game engine released a revolutionary piece of software in June this year. Unity Sentis is designed to embed real-time AI neural networks into the 3-D engine. This means you can have artificial intelligence fully operational in your game and can create local networks for players to Interact with. Human-like NPCs in your video games might be right around the corner thanks to Sentis. If this is the rate of progress we’re already seeing, who knows where this technology will be in just a few years' time?
But this all depends on the developers themselves. Before them lay two paths - one leads towards cheap, mass-produced games that do nothing but earn money, and the other leads to a world where games provide unique, incredible experiences to players all over the planet. Which one will they choose?
Conclusion
Are you excited about the future of AI in gaming, or is it a curse that will just lead to more oversaturation? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this video, hit the like button and subscribe to my Channel, Super Serious Studio, for more gaming-related content in the future. Until next time!
Highlights:
- AI has been an integral part of the gaming experience for quite some time, with AI opponents becoming more powerful and human-like.
- The use of machine learning technology in video game development has the potential to either save or ruin the gaming industry.
- The advent of powerful AI programs could lead to the mass production of low-quality games and oversaturation of the market.
- AI has the potential to transform video games, particularly in the areas of NPC behavior and MMORPGs.
- Language models, such as ChatGPT, could create unique and constantly evolving worlds in MMOs.
- The developers' choices will determine whether AI in gaming leads to cheap, soulless games or incredible, immersive experiences.
