THE PHILOSOPHY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPLORED
In this study, video games were shown to have been elemental in the development of Artificial Intelligence for many other industries, as it allowed to improve new techniques, develop new ones and vet the flawed uses of AI. Nevertheless, the video game industry has also helped develop AI in a philosophical stand point. Indeed, this medium has been very useful for exploring in new ways the philosophical questions surrounding Artificial Intelligence. All the interviewed students, game design and cinema, were in agreement regarding the use of video games for exploring conceptually Artificial Intelligence. One noted that this medium was even better than movies as the players could interact with the world presented, while another highlighted the fact that video games democratized the word “Artificial Intelligence” through the futuristic settings presented in many games.
NieR: Automata
NieR: Automata is a videogame developed by Yoko Taro and published in 2017 by Platinium Games which explores the story of three human-developed androids in their battle to reclaim and futuristic version of earth overrun by other machines built by aliens. While the premise may appear too over-the-top, the actual philosophy of the game is based on the large question of: what is the meaning of life in the absence of god? This is the very questioned explored by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, the father of Nihilism, when he stated: “God is dead”. It gives a spin on the usual philosophical situation of AI developing conscience. Indeed, in a major plot twist in the game, the characters and the player realize that the respective creators of each side of machines have long been dead, yet group of androids kept fighting unknowing of their creators’ fate. Thus, through the three android character, the player is being asked to question the meaning of life, how to move on. It also hypothesizes what would happen if futuristic AI had to develop their own meaning of life in the absence of a human to lead them. The game does not give any direct answer to these questions, it gives hints about how the developers feel regarding these philosophical questions; it is up to the player to think about it.
Credits: Pinterest
Credits: Escapist Magazine
This is done brilliantly as the game creates a nihilist feeling in the player throughout the game. Indeed, the game is divided into chapters, some are the same but from another character’s point of view, others are entirely new and serve to continue the story. The player never knows why they are actually fighting for, what is ahead of them; just like the in-game characters. To help the player find their own answer to the main question raised, the game explores through NPCs and quests the thesis of Simone de Beauvoir (one is not born a woman, but becomes a woman), Jean-Paul Sartre (Existence precedes essence) and many other famous European and Chinese philosophers’ take on the meaning of life. (Wisecrack, 2018) Yoko Taro raised a millennia old question and used a whole new environment, a new medium to explore it once again and develop the consequences of having AI developing conscious.
Detroit: Become human
Detroit: Become Human is a 2018 game developed by David Cage and published by Quantum Dream. This game takes a conventional take on the philosophy of Artificial Intelligence developing conscience in a society that became dependent on androids for its functioning. It explores the question of the ethics behind the actions taken by the intelligent androids, as the player follows and controls three parallel, yet linked, stories of three different androids. Kara, who escapes the abusive owner she was serving to protect his daughter; Connor, an android detective hunting down sentient androids; and Markus, who is devoted to releasing other androids from servitude. The game raises the questions of when AI actually becomes sentient, should it have rights then, and how our society should respond. The stories are arguably trite and the manner it asks its philosophical questions too. Nevertheless, it remains an engaging interactive story in which the player is asked to make ethical choices (survival versus community, safety versus risks etc.) in order to understand the consequences Androids would go through in the event AI becomes sentient.
Credits: Wallpaper Abyss
The Stanley Parable
The Stanley Parable is an interactive game designed by Davey Wreden in 2013 and published by Halve. In this subversive game, the designer responded directly to the infamous criticism made by film critic Roger Ebert “Video games can never be art”. The game designer decided to demonstrated that video games can have deep meaning through innovative means which other art forms cannot duplicate. (Wisecrack, 2019) Indeed, during this game, the player incarnates a man who works in an office where he happily follows the orders given to him, yet when the orders stop one day and everyone disappears, he hears an omniscient voice in his head who narrates the actions Stanley must take. The game is not afraid to discretely break the fourth wall to make each decision more meaningful. Nevertheless, it is up to the player to make the choices and many different endings can follow the player’s decisions where they be in contractions or not with the narrator. Amongst the many philosophical questions raised by the critically-acclaimed game, the question of free will and can “artificial intelligence” (the narrator) develop free will and adapt in situations not programmed. The player thinks alongside the narrator while making decisions throughout each play sessions which change many outcomes.
Credits: Playstation
SOMA
Soma is a horror survival video game from 2015 developed and written by Frictional Game. In this game, the player incarnates a man whose brain and overall consciousness have been transferred in a machine following an experimental treatment for severe brain injury. After the operation, the character wakes up in a horrific laboratory run by an artificial intelligence and populated by robots. The twist is that the main character’s consciousness has been transferred to a robot and the same happened to all the robots in the laboratory. The game raises a few questions: can a machine truly be conscious? What does it mean for humans to be conscious and how can we stay the same person over time? The whole plot of the game revolves around the situation of a world in which we had to scan the brain of the population to transfer them to robots to ensure the survival of humanity. The game then blurs the difference between intelligence built from the ground up for robots or intelligence coming from humans’ consciousness. (Video Games That Ask, 2018) The game makes these philosophical questions regarding AI more entertaining and compelling than ever before, attracting a broader population to these philosophically focused questions.
Credits: DeviantArt
On a more general note, as discussed previously, games have long been and continue to be a way to evaluate the advancement of Artificial Intelligence. If we can draw a parallel to a famous test of Artificial Intelligence, the Turing Test, video games can arguably evaluate the “intelligence” of computer algorithms by pitting them against top human players in contests of strategy. Indeed, following vaguely what the Turing Test dictates that, if the Human player cannot say if he is playing against an Artificial Intelligence due to the latter’s skillful strategies, then the AI used has achieved a remarkable level of development. (Lara-Cabrera, 2015)
Games are thus an innovative mean to explore many philosophical subjects making them immersive, compelling and interactive while attracting many new people to question these same subjects through this new lens. Amongst these subjects, the philosophical aspects surrounding Artificial Intelligence have never appeared so real, entertaining and popular. Video games have therefore helped the field of Artificial Intelligence by twisting philosophical questions, building upon them and bringing many new people to the table for tackling them, each with their own arguments and vision.