Bots Get Smart

The main challenge in making video games is to make computer-generated characters-dubbed bots-act realistically. They must, of course, look good and move naturally. But, ideally, they should also be able to engage in believable conversations, plan their actions, find their way around virtual worlds, and learn from their mistakes. That is, they need to be smart. Today many video games create only an illusion of intelligence, using a few programming tricks. But in the not-so -distant future, game bots will routinely use sophisticated AI techniques to shape their behavior. We and our colleagues in the University of Alberta GAMES (game-playing, analytical methods, minimax search and empirical studies) research group, in Edmonton, Canada, have been working to help bring about such a revolution.