[OT] Sometimes it's AI if you believe it is

yaoziyuan_at_gmail.com
Date: 02/12/05 

Date: 12 Feb 2005 12:41:56 -0800

Since Windows XP, There have been several Internet games included in
your Start Menu: Internet Reversi, Internet Checkers, etc.

One thing you may have noticed is that these game client programs can
very quickly find another active human player, from Microsoft's online
gaming network, for you to begin a game, at any time. The very large
number of Windows XP users may explain this phenomenon, but if you
think from another side: How do you tell if your opponent is really a
human?

We often like to play with a human (we believe) than with a computer,
just like why we like to play with an opposite sex than with a special
machine or with oneself. Therefore, believing your Internet Checkers
opponent be a human can bring "more value" to the whole thing.

But what if Microsoft partially or completely uses a computer algorithm
to play against you in such games? This is technically possible, and
may have real reasons, e.g. that the server can't manage to find any
active human player for your type of game, or that Microsoft want to
save some server workload, or that Microsoft simply want to demonstrate
to you "how large its user base is" by assigning you a computer
opponent if the server can't find a human opponent in 5 seconds.

Why is it technically possible? (1) The computer can already do well in
games of this kind, and easily (randomly) simulate humanlike delays
between each move, and intentionally simulate a less perfect move. (2)
During a gaming session there could also be "dialogues" made of fixed
sentences (e.g. "Hello!") between the two players. The reason why free
talk is not implemented may seem to be language barriers, but it could
also be that your opponent is sometimes a computer algorithm which
fears to take a Turing test. In this case, the computer could keep
fooling you by "talking less" (e.g. just say hello at the beginning)
and "talking general" (e.g. say "nice move" occasionally).

Can a computer imitate a partner in a telesex? I will remain this
question to the reader...

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