The term AI has been used rather loosely over the past decade since it adds more credence to certain software. This so-called “AI Software” has been mainly used for data analysis and pattern recognition. However, it’s indisputable that these tools were very useful across different industries. It helped improve digital payments and monitoring transactions.
The term AI has been used in gaming for a long time. It usually refers to any character or entity that a player does not control. Here, we will focus on modern and online games to see how AI is leveraged to create content.
AI as a Teacher
Even in ancient times, civilizations appreciated games and the act of playing. Over the past two decades, gaming technologies have significantly advanced to the point where people on different continents can collaboratively play together. Playing online titles is one of the most common ways of socializing among the youth. However, many are afraid to give it a shot because they lack proficiency and are afraid they will look silly in front of others.
Developers are aware of this and want to provide beginners with a teachable experience. Tutorials are a big part of learning the basics, but in order to get better, players need a bigger challenge. Players who want to learn the mechanics better usually play against AI, and they can gradually increase the difficulty. Once they are comfortable with their knowledge of the game, they are more confident about playing with other real people.
Making Games More Challenging
Developers use AI to create NPCs and give them a set of commands that they should execute. This helps create an impression of a more vivid and realistic in-game world. AI is also used to tell your virtual enemies how to react. Their set actions will be based on a few things:
- Difficulty setting
- How far have you progressed in the game
- Your position in relation to the enemy
- Your activity and motion
- Enemy’s remaining health
These are all perceived by players as fair use of AI. However, some developers want to create challenging boss fights or enemies you shouldn’t beat. They do this by either adding input reading or by rubber banding.
Rubber banding is definitely more frustrating because it either lowers the player’s power or ridiculously increases the enemy’s power. This is seen as a lazy design, and it denies the player an opportunity to overcome a difficult challenge.
Input reading can be just as frustrating, but at least the player knows what’s going on. When the enemy’s AI uses input reading, they become psychic, basically. Whatever button you press or whatever command you issue, the enemy will know it and counter it. However, it’s still possible to cheese those fights because you will know how the enemy will react, and you can get them to do what you want.
Speeding Up the Development Process
AI will likely be used in the creation or coding of games. Recently, developers have tested ChatGPT to create some of the simpler old-school games:
- Snake
- Pong
- Tetris
The goal was to see if the AI was familiar with this game and if it could create them for HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. ChatGPT did write the code, but it wouldn’t work. However, with some specific inputs on how to alter this code, AI managed to tweak it and make it work. Although these are simpler games, the feat is still impressive. AI might not be able to create something on its own, but it can definitely speed up the process.
Of course, modern titles require animation, modeling, sound effects, and many other elements. It’s unrealistic to expect that these early versions of AI can create all of these things on their own. However, we have seen how this tech is used to create images and sounds, generate voices, etc. It has many capabilities that can work separately, but the question is how long it will take before AI can weld all these elements together.
Conclusion
Clearly, artificial intelligence software is getting better. Everyone has been both fascinated and concerned with what it can do. The main issue people have is that these programs use images, sounds, and other intellectual property that they don’t have the right to use.
So, it’s hard to say what a transition to AI-generated content will look like. As far as video games go, it’s almost impossible for us to imagine them without this tech. The quality of AI in games directly impacts the overall quality of the product.
