Making smart algorithms and other software-related tasks isn’t the only kind of problem we face. Our society today has advanced light years in computational power from the first transistor. Cell phones today have more processing power than the first Lunar Landing Module. Still, Dr. Courte believes that we still have to make more progress if we plan on creating truly intelligent systems.
“The brain is a complex, interconnected network, where individual components are always working in parallel,” he says. “Traditional programming is sequential in nature, due to the historic design of processors. That design is now changing in one way, with multi-core processors becoming the norm. It is predicted that processors of the future will have not just a few cores, but hundreds or thousands. Leveraging all that parallel power will be important, and will require a re-thinking of the way computers are programmed.”
Irrational Games’ 2007 blockbuster first-person shooter Bioshock was praised for its intelligent AI. In reality a system like that is really a lot of smoke and mirrors; game developers aren’t currently trying to fully simulate humanity.
Admits Kripalani, “All we are trying to do is give the illusion that the world is coherent and that the NPCs are doing ‘appropriate’ or ‘expected’ actions. In some ways, it is like doing special effects for a motion picture. You only have to do enough for the viewer to convince themselves that what they are seeing is real. If we can convince a gamer that an NPC is acting in a believable manner, we have achieved our goal.”
This illusion extends to feelings. “Computers make decisions in the absence of emotion,” states Dr. Courte. “Some may consider this a good thing, but I think emotion enters into all human decisions. By this I mean there is a human aspect to decisions that takes much more into account than simple facts. One often weighs the effect of decisions on organizations, individuals, group dynamics, and society as a whole. I’d say this human side of reasoning is what’s missing [from AI].”
Video game developers have a more challenging task than researchers because their illusion of emotion can’t be a work-in-progress. When a person plays a game, they expect to be emotionally involved. “A computer is excellent at logic,” agrees Kripalani. “When presented with data and choices, solutions can be found. At the opposite end of the spectrum is emotion. Emotions come from gameplay, not algorithms. So, an NPC is probably not going to react with emotion. However, what an NPC does may cause a player to react with emotion.”
So what can the NPC do to elicit emotion from a player? Answers Kripalani, “Ultimately, the AI needs to find a way to tease the gamer as if it were acting with emotion. A good game designer will find a way to do this. The game designer is the storyteller and emotion comes from the stories. Some people have been toying with the ability for the system itself to track emotions, but realistically we are a long way off from any of this being a reality.”
“The brain is a complex, interconnected network, where individual components are always working in parallel,” he says. “Traditional programming is sequential in nature, due to the historic design of processors. That design is now changing in one way, with multi-core processors becoming the norm. It is predicted that processors of the future will have not just a few cores, but hundreds or thousands. Leveraging all that parallel power will be important, and will require a re-thinking of the way computers are programmed.”
Generally speaking, A.I. programming merely extends to making an NPC react the way you would expect them to, just in a believable manner. Replicating emotion, which is the humanistic side of reasoning, is something a computer will never be able to do. It can work out solutions logically, but actual emotion is never a factor. Though, this image from the PS3 project, Heavy Rain, evokes emotion within the player.
Admits Kripalani, “All we are trying to do is give the illusion that the world is coherent and that the NPCs are doing ‘appropriate’ or ‘expected’ actions. In some ways, it is like doing special effects for a motion picture. You only have to do enough for the viewer to convince themselves that what they are seeing is real. If we can convince a gamer that an NPC is acting in a believable manner, we have achieved our goal.”
This illusion extends to feelings. “Computers make decisions in the absence of emotion,” states Dr. Courte. “Some may consider this a good thing, but I think emotion enters into all human decisions. By this I mean there is a human aspect to decisions that takes much more into account than simple facts. One often weighs the effect of decisions on organizations, individuals, group dynamics, and society as a whole. I’d say this human side of reasoning is what’s missing [from AI].”
Video game developers have a more challenging task than researchers because their illusion of emotion can’t be a work-in-progress. When a person plays a game, they expect to be emotionally involved. “A computer is excellent at logic,” agrees Kripalani. “When presented with data and choices, solutions can be found. At the opposite end of the spectrum is emotion. Emotions come from gameplay, not algorithms. So, an NPC is probably not going to react with emotion. However, what an NPC does may cause a player to react with emotion.”
So what can the NPC do to elicit emotion from a player? Answers Kripalani, “Ultimately, the AI needs to find a way to tease the gamer as if it were acting with emotion. A good game designer will find a way to do this. The game designer is the storyteller and emotion comes from the stories. Some people have been toying with the ability for the system itself to track emotions, but realistically we are a long way off from any of this being a reality.”
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