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Alone, realistic graphics are unlikely to become a moral issue. Alone, artificial
intelligence is unlikely to become a moral issue until it's too late. Here's a
little thought though…..what about when the two join forces? It's already
happening as we speak. During post production of the second Lord of the Rings
film, computer generated Orcs in their thousands were created in the scenes used
for the Battle of Helm's Deep. These Orcs were programmed with some intelligence
to make the battle scenes more realistic. In the early stages of development their
"run away and save themselves" settings (no I don't know the correct
terminology) were set a little too high and rather than fighting - they erm, ran
away. If that were a game, would you as a player feel bad when they ran away from
you? The reality factor becomes extreme when you consider the possibilities for
future game development.
Imagine you are standing inside a virtual reality game, in which you can reach
out and touch, converse, and make friends with self aware, intelligent characters.
A world to all intents and purposes as real as the world around you. An environment
providing sensory input so sophisticated to fool your brain into thinking it
really exists. As you walk down a street, warm sun beating down on your back
a man walks up to you and asks you for the time. You can faintly smell his aftershave.
Can see the creases in his shirt. Can hear air gently whispering in and out
of his nose as his chest rises and falls in slight panic at running late. He
isn't a real man but you know him and he knows you. You have a gun in your hand
and he's all that stands between you and 1000 points and a level cleared. Recognition
dawns in his eyes as you slowly raise your arm and he begins to shake in fear.
Do you pull the trigger?
The word "game" may not be appropriate much longer.
