Altera's founder, Robert Yang, sees this as an early step towards large-scale “AI civilizations” that can coexist and work alongside us in digital spaces. The AI characters exhibited human-like behaviors, such as following community-wide rules, voting on tax laws, and spreading cultural memes. However, experts argue that while these AI characters can mimic human behavior, they are not "alive" and it's not possible to recreate emotions in machines using current techniques. Yang's ultimate goal is to create a vast number of “digital humans” who can interact with humans in their day-to-day lives.
Key takeaways:
- AI startup Altera has developed an experiment where AI characters in Minecraft developed their own societies, jobs, and even religions, displaying a range of personality traits and preferences.
- The experiment is part of a broader field that aims to use simulated agents to model how human groups would react to new policies or interventions.
- Altera's founder, Robert Yang, envisions a future where large-scale "AI civilizations" can coexist and work alongside humans in digital spaces.
- Despite the lifelike behavior of the AI characters, experts argue that they are not "alive" and cannot experience emotions, though they may be able to convincingly simulate care and concern.