What Does AI Mean In Video Games? Things You Should Know

If you are new to game research and development, familiarizing yourself with algorithms is the first task to be able to develop your products. In the current 4.0 technology era, your first question is, “What does AI mean in video games?”

This article covers the concept of AI in video games and provides a thorough analysis of the types of AI and why it has grown so much in this field. Explore the content below to get the most specific insight!

What Does AI Mean In Video Games?

Artificial intelligence in games mainly refers to video games’ adaptive and responsive experience. But this experience usually comes from NPCs (non-player characters). What these types of characters have in common is that they act intelligently as if a human game player was controlling them.

AI has been around for a long time in video games, but its growth potential is endless. Today’s AI games are increasingly transferring control of the experience to the player to create more realism.

What Are The Kinds Of AI In Games?

The areas that AI can exploit in games are extremely extensive. To get a closer look at this topic, we’ve helped you break it down into two categories described below- nondeterministic and deterministic AI techniques.

Nondeterministic AI Techniques

This type of AI is uncertain, depending on the algorithm used. To better understand these AI characters, you need to study their tactics and develop methods to counter them. The Bayesian technique, genetic algorithm, or neural network can be consulted in this learning process.

Developers don’t need to predict scenarios when writing code for these AI characters.

Read more: AI Video Vs Traditional Video

Deterministic AI Techniques

Deterministic AI techniques appear widely in today’s video game techniques. The behavior/performance of the characters is extremely predictable and easy to implement, test and debug every time a problem is detected.

However, their uncertainty forces developers to predict all possible scenarios, thereby writing code for all of them. Besides, players also easily predict the behavior after a short time, leading to game-play limitations.

Why Does AI Matter In Gaming?

Artificial intelligence-integrated video games provide a better entertainment experience for gamers. Through the creation of interesting situations, it will promote the curiosity and desire to conquer the player’s victory.

If you’re curious about why AI is so important in games, here are their top roles in the esports industry.

NPCs

Non-player characters (NPCs) are the area where AI is most developed. These characters can act extremely intelligently, thanks to artificial intelligence tools and algorithms. Usually, their behavior is subject to the control of decision trees.

Data Mining 

Artificial intelligence helps game studios and designers mine data on player behavior, thereby analyzing why players stop the game or the department that receives the most players. From there, the game will increasingly receive improvements to meet your requirements.

Pathfinding

Pathfinding helps the player’s virtual character move from one location to another. AI plays a very important role in developing the game’s context. It takes feedback on your playing style, moves, technique, looks, and decisions, creating the context corresponding to the request.

Decision-Making

AI allows your decisions to influence your gaming experience. For example, in some games like Red Dead Redemption 2, player decisions can manipulate the entire game world.

Creating New Content 

Artificial intelligence can automatically create scenes, content, interactive stories, levels, and music through the game maker’s algorithm.

Player Experience Modeling

Game AI evaluates emotions, finds the player’s intentions, and adjusts to satisfy that need. For example, it will change and balance the difficulty level to suit the player’s ability.

Cheating

The most common type of cheating is when NPCs use the information the player is not given, such as their location. For example, ride-hailing games often allow NPCs to speed up to keep up with your pace or to respawn in some race-friendly location.

Read more: Is It Legal To Use AI Video

Conclusion

The importance of AI cannot be denied as it maintains almost all the operation of the game you are enjoying. So, what does AI mean in video games, and its role in this field? Through this article, we hope you have enough useful information to help your work. Good luck!

Thank you for reading!