The Next Level Of AI

Imagine you have an AI controlled teammate. You are attacked by a superior force. He fights to the death to protect you. Are you moved by this sacrifice? Not really, because you know he’s just AI, he did not do it out of love or loyalty or bravery. He did it because he is stupid, and his AI told him to attack all enemies until dead.

The Next Level

Now we’ve made him a bit more human. He knows you stand no chance and will die whether he helps you or not. So he runs away. Damn you unreliable side-kick!

The Next Level

Now hes even more human. He knows he will die if he tries to save you, knows that every line of reasoning tells him to run away, and that he cannot help you. But he fights anyway, to the death. Out of loyalty, out of love. Now, this is just a random idea. You may get ideas, you might think its stupid, that I’ve gone in a circle. Implementing this is not overly complicated for an AI programmer. The real question is how do you show the player what has just happened? How do you make them realise its the next level, and not the first one?