AI in Games Is Horrible, Admits EA's Patrick Söderlund, But It Will Get Much Better Soon

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is generally horrible in games, EA's Executive VP Patrick Söderlund admitted, but it will get much better soon thanks to research like the one EA is funding with their SEED division.

[Imp0ssibl3]

I'll believe when I see it. AI really does suck though

[Player124]

not all of them tbh, some games have decent AI that actually see your playstyle and "tries" to adapt.

[freshslicepizza]

Halo is a good example of difficulty and A.I. being scaled. Most games turn up the difficulty by simply giving you less hit points or throwing more enemies at you. Halo actually had smart A.I.

[CyrusLemont]

That's because CPUs weren't given a priority in this gen's hardware. That's why a more powerful PC will get you better graphics but the same simulation/AI experience. Everything is restricted by the lowest common denominator which is the PS4's CPU unfortunately.

[Ashunderfire86]

An you had to forget about Xbox One hmm.

[TWB]

Modern videogame AI is barely different compared to games from the 2000's. They may have little more choices now that the games have become a bit more complex, but their movement tend to be ever so predictable and decision making dumb as ever.

*At least on average. These days there are games with some pretty good AI.

[Aenea]

@Ashunder

He did and did not. After all, the X1 CPU is the same as in the PS4, also isn't the X1's clocked a teensy bit higher? So the lowest common denominator is the PS4's CPU...

[CaptainObvious878]

That's why I wish everyone would stop bloody focusing on stupid 4k (not that resolution should be entirely kicked to the wayside) and focus on the important things that will improve gameplay like AI and physics.

[Ashunderfire86]

Physics in a good place, but AI needs the work badly. I agree that the best AI I ever seen in a shooter was Halo. Alien Isolation AI with the Xenomorph sneaking on you, and even grabbing you out of the vent, is very good. Some of the best pathfinding in a horror game like that.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I could swear they have made AI smarter before and it just frustrated players (I think it might have been the Last of Us or one of the Uncharted games). If I recall correctly they had the AI do things like flank the players, people got frustrated, so they had the AI verbally announced what they were doing, players still got frustrated. All in all, I think they came to the conclusion that people don't like AI that's too smart.

[KaiPow]

I'd like to see Turn-10's Drivatar tech be used in other genres.

[Zero_Suit_Samus]

I’d rather not. Lol

https://youtu.be/2IWTylTfjl...

[porkChop]

The Drivatar tech certainly isn't great, and needs some real improvement. Still, that video isn't much of a comparison when in GT Sport the guy clearly moves out of the way of oncoming cars.

[OffRoadKing]

LOL!

[RommyReigns]

Benny Hill is laughing in his grave!

[Godmars290]

Because the mechanics of a driving game are the exact same as any other type of game?

Anyone remember that Dirty Pair PS3 title - that never got made - where you controlled them by voice?

Anyone remember the Dirty Pair?

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Dirty Pair? Like, the anime?
Good lord, I thought I was the only one who remembered that.XD

[-Foxtrot]

Dirty Pair Flash

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

YES DIRTY PAIR!!!

[AspiringProGenji]

in your games*

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Wrong ,AI is trash in games.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

I am guessing you never played Zelda: Breath of the Wild then.

[theXtReMe1]

Agreed.

[theXtReMe1]

I truly think developers either dont implement AI at all or just dont research its possibilities. It doesnt help that console CPUs this gen have basically halted all AI and physics advancements. Theyre simply not powerful enough to do anything significant in those areas. They are having difficulty enough keeping framerates stable.

I think AI can be as simple as text files. Where AI thats in proximity to witness the players actions gets information stored in their personal text file of your actions and conversations(especially if you have any with them) and on your next encounter with them, simply looks up your past actions and conversations and reacts based off of them. Of course, the major hurdle in a system like this is keywords and context. Keywords are easy, context is not. Which is also the biggest hurdle in speech recognition and intelligent response. With so many ways for one word or sentence to interpreted based off of emotion, body language and pronunciation... its almost impossible to teach to a machine. Humans are brought up understanding how emotion and body language play into the interpretations of words. Computers cant see that and have to be programmed to listen for it. But those little nuances in our voice are often times misinterpreted by our own friends and family... so, how do you teach a machine to listen for and interpret them correctly?

Tommy Tallarico and I got into this very discussion once. He and I both firmly believe that the future of videogames is in speech recognition and intelligent response. Though, it is still a ways off due to the amount of CPU power you would need to listen, interpret and respond correctly and as fast as a human would, in order to be able to have a fluid conversation with AI in game. Imagine being able to walk up to any character in a game, speak into your headset and have a conversation with them. Like you would any friend. Them remembering conversations prior and talking to you about anything. Imagine what kind of impact that would have on any game and the emotion you would feel if, at the 100 hour mark... that AI character that youve befriended was killed... the feeling of grief, anger and loss would be like that of the real world and create emotions in games that would bleed out into your real life. Imagine the water cooler conversations you could have with friends about games like that. I always tell people to watch and reference the movie ‘HER’ for what it could be like.

With the power of the Ryzen CPUs and the roadmap of whats to come after... the next generation of consoles is going to be huge for the improvement and implementation of AI, Physics and hopefully speech recognition. This current generation has been all about graphics and we have mostly(yes, it still exists in some titles, but not a lot) seen the demise of aliasing and shimmering. Which, to me, is a huge step for the solidity of on screen visuals. Next generation, I want physics to change the way we play games. Being able to shoot a statue on top of a building, that falls onto a truck below, creating an explosion that sends a bumper flying through an enemies body. Making every encounter an experience, instead of just shooting enemies in the face or throwing a grenade their way. Same goes for AI.

The future looks bright, my friends. Lets just hope developers embrace all it has to offer.

[Injusticewarrior]

Nice name drop tommy rules.

[Godmars290]

Think its as simple as most other aspects of game development, scenario plotting and physics along with individual and group AI, took a backseat with the advent of graphic fidelity and HD .

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Battlefield 1, had some of the worst enemy AI I have ever seen.

[Majin-vegeta]

Someone give this man a copy of KZ2...

[porkChop]

There are certainly some games with great, intelligent AI. Overall though? Most games feature pretty dumb or basic AI.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Those dudes were tough and smart for sure.

[nevin1]

Did that carry over to Horizon?

[Atticus_finch]

Of course, the machines are extremely smart. But don't believe me just play it.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

also a copy of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[Godmars290]

...Since PS1 days...

[AuraAbjure]

F.E.A.R. That's all I'm sayin

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

To be honest, while I like the idea of some AI becoming smarter/better, at the same time, there are times when I like AI with patterns that I can learn to exploit.
Doing so can be a fun way of playing in and of itself, and in some cases, exploitable AI can also be "the great equalizer" for instances when a game's AI is given too many advantages in an area.

A good example is floor 10 of the Beginner trials in Master Mode of Breath of the Wild.
2 Silver lizalfos with regenerating health, and you've got low supplies of weak weapons to deal with them.
But if you kill the sentry before being discovered, you can use the stupidity of their AI to sneak up on them and chain Sneak Strikes, so that they never get knocked into the water where you can't hit and kill them effectively, which destroys an otherwise-unfair floor that you normally wouldn't have enough arrows or weapons to make it through.

I guess whether having smarter AI is a good thing is really dependent on the game.
There's a base-line, of course, but having a computer that's just dumb enough for there to be tricks you can use against an AI's routine behaviors isn't always a horrible thing.

[NeodeosX]

The Last Guardian just showed what could be achieved in terms of advanced AI. Maybe it's time for developers to accept the idea that videogames AIs should not always obey the players as simple gameplay tools.
Trico is a fascinating example of what an autonomous AI can offer to a game, in terms of interaction and immersion. I can understand why it would annoy some players, but I think there's never been a more impressive AI in a videogame before.
The reason why Trico appears so much as a believable living being is because of his imperfections, his stubborness, his own will. We need more of this in modern videogames, we need more than basic robots only doing what they're told, and whose behavior is only conducted by mechanical goals and rules.

[Servbot41]

Because publishers had developers focus on graphics over gameplay, because it's easier to sell shiny bullshots and prerendered trailers than it is AI. It's a damn shame that there is still AI in some modern games that isn't even as advanced as the original MGS on PS1.

[Aenea]

This is something I can see future generations do more and better off! That and physics! One day it's gonna stop to be possible to improve graphics for their artstyle and they have more power left for other things! Can't wait!

Hopefully next gen we will already see improvements in that department!

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

One of world's largest gaming companies who are notorious for yearly updates with not much of an upgrade, thinks it's time to pull it's finger out. Bravo EA, stop dumbing down your studios and outsourcing stuff to save a few dollars. You've got heaps of coin and great tech, start backing gamers intelligence and let the devs under you wing do as they please.

[C-H-E-F]

AI in EA games are horrible...

There we go, because the AI in TLOU is FAR from horrible. and that was a PS3 game...

[Pandamobile]

Artificial intelligence in games today doesn't go much deeper than simply reacting in predefined ways to players' actions. The AI in TLOU is really no different than any other similar game from the past 10ish years. Some devs do a better job of masking how simple the AI with having them cover to avoid the player's fire, or have a few more behaviours to react with, but nothing has really changed since the advent of path finding AI.

Modern advances in machine learning have the potential to rapidly improve the perceived 'intelligence' in AI, but it comes at the cost of higher CPU requirements (current gen console CPUs are already stretched to their absolute limits in a lot of cases).

[1nsomniac]

What makes me laugh it's the same people who year in year out, state how groundbreaking & truly lifelike their AI is in their new upcoming game...

[kevnb]

AI peaked with F.E.A.R. and after that nobody even bothered to try it seems. Come to think of it I cant even remember the last time a game had ai as good as the original half-life. I still remember the arguments on here about last of us having amazing ai before it came out, turns out the ai in the last of us isnt a strong point... especially when you realize enemies have invisible walls.

[Xack]

I have often thought that too many games have dumb AI these days.

[spektical]

hmm ai in uncharted and killlzone seemed pretty good most of the time.

[Usperg]

Escape from Tarkov AI is insane, they have their own legal in game aimbot hehehe