How AI and machine learning are changing player experiences in gaming

When we think of gaming, tech topics like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) aren't among the first things that come to mind. Instead, most gamers focus on things like graphics and gameplay because these are the things that are immediately experienced when playing a game.

Still, even if we don't think about AI or ML when we fire up our consoles or PCs, they're operating behind the scenes, ensuring our gaming experience is the best it can be. 

Not long ago, these technologies couldn't do much more than deliver characters with basic scripted behaviors. However, all of that has changed. Advanced AI and ML have allowed for gaming systems that can learn and adapt to our actions in real-time, giving developers the power to create dynamic gaming worlds, intelligent non-player characters (NPCs), and personalised content that responds to your gaming preferences.

In this article, we look at how these technologies are changing our gaming experience. 

Personalised Player Experiences

Before AI and ML, your gaming experience wouldn't differ much from your friend's or a stranger's on the other side of the world. AI and ML have changed all that, doing everything from analysing your in-game behavior to adjusting a game's difficulty level to making recommendations about other content you might enjoy. 

If you've ever spent time in an online casino, you've witnessed AI and ML at work. The iGaming industry has enthusiastically embraced these technologies to create customised experiences for players to make sure they get the most out of every visit to the virtual casino floor. That means when you visit an online platform like PokerStars Casino if you play a slot with an ancient Egyptian theme, you may find recommendations for similar games appear on your screen. 

Beyond online casinos, you'll see personalisation in other gaming genres, including role playing games (RPGs), first person shooters, and mobile games, where AI recommends a quest you might enjoy or adjusts the game's difficulty level so you don't feel overwhelmed. All of this happens in real time, so it seems completely natural, and you probably won't even notice it. 

Smarter NPCs and Adaptive Gameplay

If you're a veteran gamer, you've crossed paths with highly scripted and predictable NPCs more than a few times in your life. These NPCs sometimes get caught in a loop and don't deviate from what they were programmed to do. AI and ML have changed all of that, with modern games featuring realistic NPCs that can adapt to in-game events and the decisions we make as we play a title. 

ML algorithms make it possible for today's AI powered NPCs to analyse your behavior and adjust their strategies accordingly. As one would expect, this makes the gameplay a lot more enjoyable. If you have a go-to tactic in a game, these intelligent NPCs will quickly pick up on it, challenging you to dig deeper into your bag of tricks.

These NPCs do more than make games less predictable; they increase their replayability, too, because no two gaming sessions are even the same. 

Procedural Content Generation and Game Design

Games like No Man's Sky and Minecraft have shown us up close and personal the potential of procedural content generation (PCG). AI plays an important role in helping PCG create huge, totally immersive gaming worlds that seem to never end.

What makes PCG so special is that it can create constantly expanding, unique landscapes and scenarios so players can explore without limits. It's not just AI; ML also plays an important part by analysing player data, which in turn helps developers know which gameplay elements to tweak or improve on based on how players interact with them. 

AI Powered Voice and Visual Enhancements

AI has also improved the visual and voice aspects of gaming. Players and NPCs can have more natural conversations thanks to AI powered voice recognition. These improved dialogues add a degree of realism to gaming that was missing up until now. Upscaling and rendering techniques have made game graphics more realistic and detailed than ever before.