Here’s why Grand Theft Auto games could last FOREVER very soon
In just five years time, artificial intelligence may be able to build endless worlds for some of your fave games, according to tech's big wigs
IMAGINE a future Grand Theft Auto that keeps growing, adding new storylines and weapons, in real-time.
This is what the AI-driven future of gaming looks like. And it could be here in the next five years, according to experts.
Intel exec John Bonini claims machine learning could be trained to understand, and then emulate, the template of any game, creating endless scenarios in the process.
Feed it tons of Star Wars data, and it will build an exhaustive galaxy of characters, quests, and planets – all while you're playing.
Or, to use Bonini's example: "What if you want to create content using the style and look of Blade Runner?"
Intel evidently thinks AI could unlock that aesthetic. So too does EA chief Andrew Wilson.
That insane five-year ETA also comes from Wilson.
Bonini, on the other hand, is more conservative in his estimates (it could arrive "five or ten" years from now, he told The Sun).
Crowdfunded to the tune of around $178million (£129million), the game boasts a "persistent universe", although players have moaned of bugs and technical limitations spoiling the fun.
But, that's just scratching the surface.
Bonini is already mulling what happens when you apply AI to virtual reality.
You get something "along the lines of Ready Player One", he said, referring to Steven Spielberg's upcoming sci-fi film.
But AI can't make this future a reality on its own. That's why Intel is "working" on memory that's "ten times larger", he said.
That will help developers build worlds at mass scale: "Imagine a Star Wars landspeeder racing thousands of miles to a new area of the landscape," he explained.
And, these massive games will be cloud-based, according to Bonini.
In other words, they'll be stored online, keeping the parts that aren't being used in "cold storage", while pushing the bits that are being used up to "active use", he said.
A game stored on the cloud could also be played on your telly, smartphone, or AR smart glasses, explained the Intel exec.
Nintendo Switch eat your heart out.
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