Do Video Game Characters Dream?

Venture with us beyond the screen, drawing inspiration from Philip K. Dick's iconic query Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep? - as we delve into the intriguing realm of video game characters and their potential 'dreamscapes'.

The Evolution of Gaming AI

• More Than Commands: Today's AI is more than just "Move" or "Attack". It's a blend of algorithms, deep learning and decision trees.
  • Dragon Encounter:
    • Fight:
      • Win: 🏆 & XP
      • Lose: 🩸 & Respawn
    • Talk:
      • 🤝: Ally & Clue
      • 😐: Pass
      • 😡: Fight/Run
    • Run: 🏃‍♂️ or 🐉 chase
• Generated worlds: Games like No Man's Sky offer vast, ever-changing universes.
  • Procedural generation
    • Seed: A unique universe starter number.
    • Star Systems:
      • ⭐ Type: Probabilities (e.g., 70% Yellow)
      • 🪐: Varying count & characteristics.
    • Each Planet:
      • 🌍: Varied terrain and climates.
      • 🌱🐾: Different plants and creatures.
    • Resources: Placed based on planet traits.
    • Points of Interest: Randomized locations.

Understanding Dreams

To fathom if our pixel protagonists could dream, let's first unpack why we dream:

• Memory Archivist: Dreams serve as a means to archive our daily experiences.
• Emotional Processing Unit: Dreams act as the stage where unresolved emotions play out.
• Brain's Problem-Solving Suite: Much like a cerebral escape room, our mind harnesses dreams to tackle dilemmas.

For our virtual comrades to even contemplate dreaming, they'd require a computational equivalent of our intricate neural network.

AI's March Towards Complexity

Though our AI counterparts are soaring in intelligence, they've yet to challenge us in a friendly duel of pillow warfare. Moore's Law, named after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, predicts that the number of transistors on a microchip (essentially the computational power of computers) will double approximately every two years. This observation has largely held true, leading to the exponential growth in computer capabilities since the 1960s.

🎭 Chinese Room Argument - John Searle

Imagine someone inside a room who doesn't know Chinese. They receive Chinese messages and, using a rule book, send out accurate replies. To outsiders, it seems like they understand Chinese, but they're just following rules without truly understanding the language.

This scenario suggests that machines, like computers or bots, might seem to understand tasks, but they're only following preset rules or codes.

Video game characters can show emotions, but these are just animations and codes set up by their creators. Like the person in the room who doesn't genuinely understand Chinese, these characters don't truly "feel" emotions. They're just following the script given to them by human developers.

They may be getting faster at following their script - but there is no thought involved.

🎉 Final Thoughts

As technology surges ahead, the difference between virtual and real is thinning. But as for dreams? Those remain a magical realm exclusive to humanity. As for electric sheep? They're currently constrained within the pages of our cherished sci-fi tales! 🌌📚🐏