AI Advances in Video Games

The video game in which this AI was embedded was Civilization III [see screenshot]. The creation of Firaxis Games (Hunt Valley, Md.), Civilization III sets the player and various computer opponents to fighting military, economic, and cultural battles across a randomly generated set of continents and oceans. While game AIs are most visible when they take on the role of an opponent to a human player, they can also be used to work in the games background, making sure the digital environment runs smoothly, and even on the players behalf in roles like tutors or wingmen. An increasing number of other games are taking advantage of changes in computer architecture and the growth in processing power to become smarter than ever before. Although most of these games use relatively unsubtle AI techniques, a few pioneers are even showing the academic AI community a trick or two. While AI originated in the laboratory, it has now been co-opted by designers of video games, and work is under way on increasing the learning powers of a video games cast of characters and refining their social interactions with one another and with human players, too. At this point, even cinematographers and the military are showing interest in possible applications.
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/dec02/mind.html