Google is making an AI to play co-op games with friendless players

Google has revealed its DeepMind-trained video game-playing AI, SIMA, that will be able to take orders from users in the game and play co-op titles.

Google revealed SIMA, which stands for Scalable Instructable Multiworld Agent on March 13. The AI is still in the research phase and is being trained with games like Valheim, Goat Simulator 3, and No Man’s Sky.

AI’s introduction into gaming has been controversial, mostly with talking AI voice simulators that take work away from voice actors.

However, this Google Deepmind AI seems to be more for players to have a companion that can follow simple directions, than taking away anyone’s job.

Google could give players an AI in-game companion

The AI will reportedly learn how to play all sorts of games eventually, even those with massive open worlds. Essentially, the AI can be added to a player’s party to help them along with tedious tasks like those in No Man’s Sky.

SIMA isn’t trained to win a game; it’s trained to run it and do what it’s told,” said Google DeepMind researcher and SIMA co-lead Tim Harley.

Google worked with Hello Games, Coffee Stain, and more developers to train SIMA and said that the AI in training doesn’t need a custom API to play their titles.

The AI has about 600 skills, like which direction to walk and jump, but could be told to do tasks with more complexity like building a base or foraging food. Google has said the AI is not supposed to be a traditional NPC, but should have an impact during gameplay.

If successful, the AI could overcome many gamers’ pain over not having a friend to boot up a co-op mission or campaign. An AI party member who can make their own decisions and follow commands could also improve some people’s experience with survival games.

Whether Google’s SIMA will actually hit this level of advancement remains to be seen.