What Will Happen To Multiplayer Games When AI Becomes As Good As Humans?
So far, the AI revolution has largely left video games unscathed. We’ve seen artificial intelligence making its way into cars, robots, and video editing software. But, bizarrely, it still isn’t a big part of video games.
The way that developers create their so-called “AIs” is essentially the same as it was ten years ago before all the “machine learning” hype hit the tech press.
That, however, will soon change. Already game developers are getting to grips with the technology. And by the end of 2022, there will be several games on the market that use this cutting-edge technology.
That leaves us with a pressing question: what will happen to the likes of League of Legends, Counterstrike, and Dota 2 if AI gets as good as human players?
Well, it probably won’t change things much for big, headline titles like that. But it will revolutionize the nature of single-player games. Finally, you’ll be able to step into a world where the NPCs feel as real as human players - at least in how they feel during gameplay.
Several big hitters already think we’re moving towards this brave new world. Gabe Newell, the co-founder of the PC gaming platform, Steam, says that within the next decade, single-player gaming will totally eclipse multiplayer. Artificial intelligence, he says, will drive the single-player experience to such heights that multiplayer simply won’t be able to compete.
The problem with multiplayer as it currently stands is that it breaks immersion. As soon as you hop into a group chat, you know that you’re talking to a bunch of regular people, not characters embroiled in the fantasy world. And that sad fact kills the mood. You feel like you’re at the pub playing a game of darts, not questing through some mysterious universe.
Once AI becomes more widespread, though, that setup will change dramatically. You’ll feel like you’re playing against enemies with the skill of humans, but you’ll also remain firmly in whatever world the developers create for you. Going back to playing against regular people will feel a little silly afterward.
On top of this, the computer doesn’t fundamentally care whether it wins or loses. It just wants you to have a good time. So, you won’t get any of the annoying issues so common in regular multiplayer, such as ganking and cheating.
We already see artificial intelligence coming to grips with small domain video games, like Pong and Arkanoid. It’s so good now that it can actually teach you how to play, building the difficulty level gradually.
But in the future, good game AI will make it feel like the player is actually going up against another human. It won’t go through the motions robotically. Instead, it’ll develop innovative tactics of its own in an attempt to defeat you. And you won’t have to trudge through some dull, cookie-cutter response. Every play will feel a little different.
In a sense, AI opponents will be a kind of teacher. If they sense they are overwhelming the player, they will dial back the difficulty to the point where the level of challenge keeps things interesting.