Could AI powered companions work as a concept?

Warhawke_80

I think if ESO is to survive they are going to have to go that way WoW, FFXIV, BDO, and many other MMO's have either hired AI teams or are in the process of doing so...frankly ESO is best suited for AI as it already has a question/answer quest system.

Holycannoli

As a concept? Yes. In reality? Not sure it's possible in ESO. Could the servers handle it? Or would it all be handled client-side and could the clients handle it?

I just don't know.

TaSheen

FBS94 wrote: »

I'd love to have a completely automated character and companion system that is powered by an automated ai system.

A system update that could give sentience and free will to the words and actions of our characters and companions, within the limitations of the game, or perhaps even without any limitations at all.

When you think about it, such a system like that could show what ai can do, when it is only limited by the game's limitations, and not by the limited imagination and capabilities of human players.

I wouldn't. My characters are all parts of me. I don't want characters that don't fit what I envision, or act the way I expect them to.

Dr_Con

I do not think that ESO should include companion AI, if anything it should be in single player games with external support for companion AI. Doing it on an online game like ESO invites a whole host of issues.

vincentxavier

TaSheen wrote: »

I think that I'm a little old to have a reasonable opinion. While I'm quite tech savvy, AI is actually nothing I thought would happen in my lifetime (I'll be 76 before too long).

So, mostly, I don't know....

I personally think your age might give you insight into this concept that most of us might not have. So, your opinion is worthwhile, even if it turns out to be wrong. Just saying.

vincentxavier

Aislinna wrote: »

Player: Let's go this way to gather nodes
Companion: meh, I don't think so
Player: Come on, it'll be fun
Companion: No, we're going this way and doing something hard mode
Player: But I said...
Companion: Come or go, whatever, but I've disabled the unsummon button, you are at my mercy now *evil laugh*

[/quote]

Thank you for making me chuckle.

TaSheen

vincentxavier wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

I think that I'm a little old to have a reasonable opinion. While I'm quite tech savvy, AI is actually nothing I thought would happen in my lifetime (I'll be 76 before too long).

So, mostly, I don't know....

I personally think your age might give you insight into this concept that most of us might not have. So, your opinion is worthwhile, even if it turns out to be wrong. Just saying.

Well, I did post a couple of bits after. As for insight, I just really am not sure at this point that everyone in the gaming world (and other areas - like school teachers are doing in this state) should jump into AI with both feet. I''m as bad about "tinfoil hats" as many people - but this to me sounds like a decent reason to put one on and just THINK about AI for a while, what it can do already, and whether we really want to deal with what it may be able to do soon.

ArchangelIsraphel

FBS94 wrote: »

I'd love to have a completely automated character and companion system that is powered by an automated ai system.

A system update that could give sentience and free will to the words and actions of our characters and companions, within the limitations of the game, or perhaps even without any limitations at all.

When you think about it, such a system like that could show what ai can do, when it is only limited by the game's limitations, and not by the limited imagination and capabilities of human players.

That not only sound boring, but highly dystopian. Why would I want my character to have "free will", when my character is something I am meant to create, not a machine? I make characters to be creative and walk in the shoes of a story I want to tell. I don't make them so that some emotionless machine can sock puppet them for me.

If I want to sit and be mindlessly entertained without putting in any effort or input, I'll watch TV. I don't want my games to play themselves for me.

(I don't feel that letting an AI sock puppet my character is "free will" anyway. Nothing free at all about a machine taking control of something that's meant to be your own creation and warping them into something that they were never meant to be.)

What you're suggesting sounds like the death of imagination. Not only that, but I'm playing the game, the game doesn't need to play itself for me. Why would you want the power of choice taken out of your hands for your own character? Sounds godawful.

If you want an AI to control your character for you, play the SIMS. Classic example of how "good" computers are at making choices. (I like the sims, but anyone who's ever played it knows how well giving a sim free reign goes.)

(And the fact that you think a humans imagination is limited compared to a machine...we created the machine, it is only capable of what we programmed it to do and be. Human imagination is infinite in its variety and complexity by comparison. AI is only a pale, shallow mockery of actual human creativity.)

TaSheen

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

FBS94 wrote: »

I'd love to have a completely automated character and companion system that is powered by an automated ai system.

A system update that could give sentience and free will to the words and actions of our characters and companions, within the limitations of the game, or perhaps even without any limitations at all.

When you think about it, such a system like that could show what ai can do, when it is only limited by the game's limitations, and not by the limited imagination and capabilities of human players.

That not only sound boring, but highly dystopian. Why would I want my character to have "free will", when my character is something I am meant to create, not a machine? I make characters to be creative and walk in the shoes of a story I want to tell. I don't make them so that some emotionless machine can sock puppet them for me.

If I want to sit and be mindlessly entertained without putting in any effort or input, I'll watch TV. I don't want my games to play themselves for me.

(I don't feel that letting an AI sock puppet my character is "free will" anyway. Nothing free at all about a machine taking control of something that's meant to be your own creation and warping them into something that they were never meant to be.)

What you're suggesting sounds like the death of imagination. Not only that, but I'm playing the game, the game doesn't need to play itself for me. Why would you want the power of choice taken out of your hands for your own character? Sounds godawful.

If you want an AI to control your character for you, play the SIMS. Classic example of how "good" computers are at making choices. (I like the sims, but anyone who's ever played it knows how well giving a sim free reign goes.)

(And the fact that you think a humans imagination is limited compared to a machine...we created the machine, it is only capable of what we programmed it to do and be. Human imagination is infinite in its variety and complexity by comparison. AI is only a pale, shallow mockery of actual human creativity.)

Absolutely agree! Wonderful post!

Vulkunne

Mascen wrote: »

I've wanted to ask this question for a while after seeing the video of that guy who hooked up Skyrim NPC's and companions to Chat GPT and the recent rise of AI chat apps. Does it seem like a good idea or not?

IMO while I dont think that ESO as it currently stands could support that kind of programming on the server, I do think that as a concept its the way of the future and offers the possibility for immersion far beyond what is available at the moment; arguably the future for the next generation of MMOs and RPGs. But what does everyone else think?

So here's the thing. If it were that kind of game, everything would be 'powered' by AI.

Not just the companions which in such case you really would not see the difference you expect to see from ESO as it would be a different experience in a world native to those features.

I might also argue that AI could possibly be wasted on companions because the companion experience is one in which they for the most part must follow you... so they could never take full advantage of AI driven benefits because at least part of their decisions will inevitably be made by the player anyways.

LokiPagan

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

I have never, and will never, desire interaction with an artificial intelligence- but engaging in a story told by another living soul, a character created by their imagination? That is what I live for.

The companions may be limited in their story telling capacity due to the way they are programmed by the developers, but I would never in a million years desire the actual creative process to be taken out of the hands of a real, living, breathing writer and put into the hands of a machine that has less soul than a potato.

No thank you.

Ah, but what is a soul? I mean, human brains are essentially extremely powerful neurological machines. Right now, yeah, AI is just some code. But what about in 50 years when the code has become so complex that they have real emotions, desires, preferences?

I personally think it would be fascinating to have actual, intelligent AI companions in a game. A little bit dystopian, though...I mean, they'd be trapped in there.

As for AI now, there have already been some games made that make use of ChatGPT for dialogue - you type something to a random NPC and they respond. It's interesting, but the dialogue feels a bit stale and forced; it isn't really yet on the same level as a human writer.

In the future, AI is going to be prevalent everywhere - it's probably going to change the world the same way that computers and the internet did. I'm excited to see where technology takes us in the next 50 years - if we're still around, anyway.