Artificial intelligence, or AI, is expected to change large parts of our lives, and that also includes gaming and esports. We are already seeing the first steps for how AI will affect esports and gaming.
Technology will have an impact on everything
From the production of tomorrow's games to expanded capabilities for interactive non-playable characters (NPCs) and more advanced cheats than ever before. In story-based games, an NPC can be a chatbot that adapts its responses based on your questions to guide you through the game.
Game developers worldwide will be able to use AI to generate and build the virtual worlds that players will explore. This means that fewer people need to manually create and model game worlds, which can streamline the process and reduce the number of employees. But at the same time, game developers are faced with the challenge of dealing with increasingly advanced cheats, which can make the fight against cheating more difficult.
Cheating in games, especially in FPS games like Counter-Strike, has always been a challenge. With AI, cheaters can create advanced cheats that resemble the behavior of real players, making it more difficult to detect and combat the cheating.
AI can also be used to create custom storylines in games. Instead of fixed choices, interactions with the player can be customized depending on the situation. An NPC can act as a chatbot that tailors its responses and guides the player through different parts of the game based on the player's previous choices and progress.
Data and analysis are already an important part of esports. AI can be used to offer players detailed match analysis and suggest improvements. It can also be used for commentary on matches, where AI can create realistic commentary similar to that of human commentators.
While the future of gaming and esports with AI technology is uncertain, it is clear that we are only seeing the beginning of its impact. A worrying factor is the increasing and advanced cheating, which requires large investments from game developers to combat. The future may mean a constant struggle to maintain a fair and fun gaming experience, especially in the FPS genre where advanced aimbots and cheats are becoming increasingly sophisticated.