Have you ever found yourself on a challenging level of a game and thought, “Some help would be great.”? Has there ever been a time you were playing a game that required hours of grinding, and you did not want to put the time in? According to a recent patent discovered by segmentnext, Sony is working on artificial intelligence (AI) that monitors our gameplay. For what purpose? When the AI gathers enough data, it will simulate your playstyle.

AI is ready to take control

Sony intends for players to use the AI-powered assistant to have the artificial intelligence complete objectives for us. It will monitor players and then generated a gameplay profile that tells the AI how to act. Take Outriders, for instance. I don’t have the time on my plate to grind World Tiers and equipment for hours. If I used this AI, I could carry on with my day while it played in my place. 

time on my plate to grind World Tiers and equipment for hours. If I used this AI, I could carry on with my day while it played in my place. 

“The method includes generating a user gameplay profile of the user by adjusting the default gameplay style based on the plurality of game plays, wherein the user gameplay profile incudes a user gameplay style customized to the user. The method includes controlling an instance of a first gaming application based on the user gameplay style of the user gameplay profile,” the patent states.

The patented system will, according to Sony, allow an AI to finish segments of single-player and multiplayer modes. For single-player games, the AI character may get stuck while doing a task. The system gets around that by having the AI search through online guides for assistance. For multiplayer? Gamers may not be willing to place their K/D ratios in the hands of an advanced bot. Still, if a player needs to leave for any reason, they can turn on the AI so that their “online presence is maintained.” 

Would this work if you’re the host of a peer-to-peer game? 

Further reading in the patent states this:

“In that case, back-end server support via the game server may provide multi-player functionality, such as through the multi-player processing engine 119. In particular, multi-player processing engine 119 is configured for controlling a multi-player gaming session for a particular gaming application.”

No, I don’t fully understand the language. I’m willing to guess that it will help keep a peer-to-peer connection active. That would be a game-changer, considering we’ve often disconnected from servers thanks to a gamer needing to bolt.

Here’s to the future of AI

Players using AI in multiplayer games are sure to spark controversial conversations. Imagine the reaction of communities like Call of Duty or Battlefield. In the future, I expect gamers to tell their more skillful rivals to turn off their AI. I might use that one.