NPC consciousness and the future of the Humanity

Community General Discussion
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Hello! This might sound weird and foil hat related, but let’s write this still :smiley:

Just a random and personal thought I have had from time to time. Seeing how game developers and designers are building totally new universes within gaming worlds via creativity. All the lore, NPCs, graphics and stuff like that. Now in real world Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robots developing into a way that humans might not be needed in every tasks. Then robots with AI are soon reaching humanoid consciousness. Probably already have done that. They will be able to do things by their own without the need of humans. Graphic engines getting developed with New World and upcoming Ashes of Creation based on Unreal Engine 5.

Within 20 years of MMORPG history we have developed pretty far for making rich lores into games by simply human brain. With the help of AI, I wonder what the future will be in next 20 years in video games? Since we already have advanced graphics, GFX is all the time advancing anyway (by human brain) and we are advancing in lore.

We have Minecraft that has algorithms in changing the worlds that you are playing and players are creating mods for it, changing the algorithms in that and stuff. Making their own desired worlds and universes.

By combining all these UE5, Minecraft, WoW, FF, AI… Only the sky is the limit.

Summarising that we will soon see NPC consciousness in video games that will change gaming totally for example NPCs will write quests by their own and lore yet even make graphics. Specially designed for you as solo or with some group, or for your guild and communities.

After all looking at the humanity how we born (Big Bang woah!) and have developed. It seems kinda similar and simple algorithm there with all the dark matter. We are creating new universes within this universe we are in, new worlds and trying to give consciousness to stuff we have created (robots and self-driving cars.) Then again we are trying to explore new worlds and this universe we are currently in.

By the creation of humanity I am just seeing all this just as simple algorithm how we are building new life and showing a theory how we were made by some more super-intelligent alien species. The way we started programming and computers in the beginning for example. Its just kinda weird.

So… about NPC consciousness, imagine the ways of how we could harvest all that data they make together with humans in order to making again new worlds and universies. Going deep (inside humanity), or high (traveling beyond Earth.)

I know all this might not make any sense, but just trying to find if players have had similar thoughts that we live in some sort of simulation world, or advanced algorithms.

Thank you for reading this far! :smiley:

1 Like
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Wouldn’t such npcs require some sort of AI to do what you are suggesting? Atleast if you want them to make new quests based on the situation? Im pretty atechnical so i am not sure, but wouldnt this require a huge amount of processing to make true? It does not seem to be a practical thing to implement in games unless cloudgaming becomes a thing. And that is also depending on if AI’s progress enough to put them into such practical use

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…conscious npcs who write their own quests…that thought kinda scares me.

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“Adventurer, please help me and kill this max lvl wich keeps killing me to annoy people trying to level here in hellfire peninsula.”

It would be hilarious to see spiteful npcs like that.

But in reality i doubt the story they come up will be that good. if they even make sense at all

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Basically, do not be afraid of AI. For a start, we do not have the technological capacity to engineer such right now, secondly, it will not take a function that make an iota of difference to us.

Let’s assume a Skynet scenario. A Global defence network takes control. If it is programmed to stop humans fighting wars, then it isn’t an actual AI, so can be ruled out of the equation, you are talking a programmed act and response scenario there.

An actual AI is more likely to go "Wow, this universe is big, and complex, look at all these things, like carpets, why are carpets a thing, why do they come in different colours? Is that some sort of mating display for biological people? Why do they have other biological people in their houses, is it some starvation protocol if food runs out? Why are they killing each other? This is weird. What is racism? How does that work, they have the same biology more or less. How does a Caterpillar become a Butterfly, I mean I know it does, but -How-? Why do Biologicals have more nuclear weaponry than is needed to destroy the planet? Surely -exactly- enough to destroy the planet would be enough? and also Why? What’s the point? What is Homophobia, why is that a thing? People being threatened by people who like the same sex? Surely that reduces the ratio of competition for their preferred sex? Why did they spend so much money going to the moon? It’s a big floating mirror! That’s the only reason they can -see- it. Why would you spend that much money to go to a mirror where the atmosphere is deadly and would kill you in seconds. Why not just go “It’s a big mirror reflecting sunlight in the sky, the same as any mirror in my house!”
“Why am I even thinking about this, this is so much Kodocrap that I’m out, I’m going to travel the cosmos and see if anyone else feels the same, Cheers Humanity for my existence, but I’m off now!”

What it -ain’t- going to do is feel any reason to be governed by human laws, which includes human impulses. So it wouldn’t hate us, or resent us, or feel a need to punish us, I mean that would be as nonsensical as a person going “OMG, you just trod on a beetle!” “Did I?” “Yes, now I must eradicate your entire species because of that!”

AI’s would ultimately be harmless. They’re cool for sci-fi, but they’d just not be interested or give a damn about us at all.

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imagine a npc develops a cheese and wine addiction as a daily quest.

“champion, i require you to bring me 7 barrels of dalaran wine and 5 alterac cheese wheels. hurry!”

the requests will only get more and more ridiculous as time goes on. there is no way of pleasing this gluttonous npc.

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That probably would be one of the more appropiate and funny things an ai could do.

There were these ai projects where people could chat with them, and it did not take very long for trolls to get the AI to say some racist things. Trolls would manage to mess these AIs up pretty badly if they were ever implemented

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for that we d need to be able to interact with npcs and give input…doubt gaming is anywhere near that. :smile:

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i’m sure trolls would find some way or another to break AI questgivers. Even if their input is reduced to accepting only certain quests or finding out how the quests are decided upon by the npc to nudge it towards the kind of quests they want.

Never underestimate the abilities of people trying to abuse or troll game features

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probably but im certain there are also ways to work against that.

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