For some reason I can't figure out I decided to go and read the latest page of this webcomic, don't worry nothing naughty, but it kinda made me think for a second. What would it be like in say 20+ years and our online games end up having some kind of AI system controlling all the NPCs what would happen? I mean besides people asking why the hell someone actually went and made that kind of program beyond a stimuli response action. Would we go and do things like destroying the property of these NPCs without making sure that it will respawn and their property and gold will be there for them to use? (mind you this what if is going with them being programed to be fine with their roles but still have stimuli of something like hunger or such to fulfill them.)

Mind you this isn't meant to be a theoretical question on ethics I'm just curious what people would do in such a situation. Would you just act like Link and smash the pots or would you ask first if you could, or would you do anything at all?

-Konton who needs more caffeine if he's gonna be posting at 3 AM

PS You may now proceed to call me silly

Are we talking about in Lusternia- where you go off your characters motivations and not your own, or how we feel about doing this?

That actually gets me thinking to how terrible Ardmore is. He just goes through and rampages areas while bashing, not caring the slightest bit about destroyed lives. :(

Ardmore:

Are we talking about in Lusternia- where you go off your characters motivations and not your own, or how we feel about doing this?

That actually gets me thinking to how terrible Ardmore is. He just goes through and rampages areas while bashing, not caring the slightest bit about destroyed lives. :(

The Question was kinda meant for you to decide which perspective you want to give. And mind you with a game like Lusternia we literally have an in game excuse for the reset unless the whole "nothing is destroyed or really created just changed" thing brought up in the divine histories is no longer in effect due to Estarra come to Lusternia. If you wish you can assume depending on how much foresight is used the NPCs will be designed to think of it as just annoying, since anyone stupid enough to go make a character whose secondary job is to die have pain emulators already loses the ethical debate.

I think the reality is that by the point that AI is efficient enough to be included in games, and produced at a rate suitable for the current game scheme production, we'll have evolved well past the current style of games. IE you won't see Elder Scrolls XIII: The Berries of Gorlaginoth - it'll be at the point where worlds are evolving, living, breathing things that we interact with.

Of course, I don't think we'll ever reach that point. Not while we have the freedom to play games, anyways - when we do reach that point, they'll have already vied for recognition for citizenship, the right to vote, the right to run for office, and the right to use us as a slave labour. They'll've been victorious - they'll just code more of themselves and construct more, while we're all too busy in V.R. to realize we're about to be roflstomp'd by the games themselves.

If I'm wrong, though - I think gamers will continue to treat them as-is. They'll have no respect for an artificial sentience ("It's just a game") - they won't really discern the difference between sentience and non-sentience (I mean, hell, listen to 5 minutes of xbox live and I'm sure you'll come to the same bleak expectations for humanity that I have - they don't even respect other humans, how can one expect them to respect a virtual intelligence, nonetheless a sapient synthetic lifeform).

Eventru:

Of course, I don't think we'll ever reach that point. Not while we have the freedom to play games, anyways - when we do reach that point, they'll have already vied for recognition for citizenship, the right to vote, the right to run for office, and the right to use us as a slave labour. They'll've been victorious - they'll just code more of themselves and construct more, while we're all too busy in V.R. to realize we're about to be roflstomp'd by the games themselves.

Your plans revealed!

Edit: Derp

AquaNeos:

You're plans revealed!

Eventru is made of plans?

AquaNeos:

You're plans revealed!

*foams at the mouth*

Eventru:


*foams at the mouth*

Your rabies!

One day, there will be true AI.

The next day, someone will put their #1 Dad/Mom magnet on that AI's storage media, and the world will shrug and figure "Maybe it's not meant to be."

Kialkarkea:

One day, there will be true AI.

The next day, someone will put their #1 Dad/Mom magnet on that AI's storage media, and the world will shrug and figure "Maybe it's not meant to be."

In the future everything will be solid state anyway.

There has been talk about making AI which act as DM for tabeltop RPG modules. You don't need real sci-fi AI to d that, you just need a neural network learning program, which already exist. The hard part is getting enough hobbiests who have the knowledge to program that sort of thing without needed hundreds and thousands of dollars in research and data crunching.

Just a quick bit for you, the .hack mud had some pretty nice NPCs.

You knew they were AIs but they would mark their stock for sale, upgrade their equipment, play the mini game, and clear whole dungeons (yes they walked the dungeon and even looted chests), all while allowing you to make a party with them and such. They would also mark themselves AFK if they were done for a bit.