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Computers are an amazing thing. They are able to take code written by humans, translate
it into a string of 1s and 0s that it can then use to implement certain actions or animations on a
screen just like how the programmer had written it. However, since the creation of computers it
has developed enough to where it doesnt require direct code from a programmer and instead the
programmer can set it up so the computer is able to recognize certain actions already going on
and utilize another code written by the programmer to understand how to react to it. Now I
wanted to learn more about how Artificial Intelligence, AI, worked and how it has advanced
The best way to understand this is by looking at how it is used in video games. There are
pre-designed characters that are given a certain knowledge by the developers to know how to
react to certain stimuli. For example in one of the earliest games, Pong, the player is facing a
computer that is given knowledge that a small ball will be hit by the player and it needs to slowly
move towards where the ball is heading to try and return it. Since then it has developed past this
pretty far giving the computer abilities such as dodging shots coming from the player and return
its own to waiting to move in until a full team is gathered at a certain point making it more
My search took about four weeks to complete with me researching in short spurts,
typically on the weekend, and trying to answer a question each time. Now I chose to research
into AI because of how much I enjoy playing video games along with my interest in becoming a
game or software developer. More specifically I researched into the future of AI, the actual
software design jobs, and the applications of AI in video games.I decided to start my researching
by collecting some vocabulary about software development but more specifically game
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development. I had already known much of the information about game development however
what intrigued me was how little i had known about actually developing a game. Since I had my
broad topic figured out I decided to narrow it down to learning about AI since I had very little
prior knowledge to it as well as trying to learn some more about the base requirements for a job
working with technology. I typically started each question by googling the question straight out
and reading a few of the top sources to learn more about it. Following that I typically took what I
learned from one source and researched into that a bit more by googling and checking out the top
sources again. Most of the sources I was doing research on were very credible coming from
college websites like MIT or government websites (Bureau of Labor Statistics) however the
websites I used for learning about the basics of a subject typically were not as credible, being
Overall my search was very successful however I did have a few failures the first day in
the library where we were tasked to use google scholar and that limited the amount sources I was
able to find. One specific failure was when I was using google scholar I found a lengthy article
about the technology of AI which didnt help me at all but wasted a bunch of my time. Another
failure that I had was trying to determine exactly what I wanted my sub questions to answer. This
related mostly to my first few questions about the potential of AI, which I would later discover to
be very hard to research, that I turned into research about deep learning AI which was a close call
I also decided to interview my computer programming teacher, Mrs. Adriano, since she
was the only person I knew who has some experience with programming and AI. The answers I
received were almost exactly what I had expected the answers to be after I had done my research
or at least the bulk of it prior to the interview. The basic things I learned was that a bachelors
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degree was required for many of the jobs in the field. She was able however to give me a little bit
of professional information that was able to confirm my research into the couple subjects that my
My search concluded with the discovery that deep learning is the next step in advanced
AI. This was evident from mainly the MIT technology review article where I researched what the
most advanced AI would look like or incorporate. I found out about deep learning which as
described by Kurzweil, who spent over fifty years working with AI, is Deep-learning software
attempts to mimic the activity in layers of neurons in the neocortex.(MIT technology review on
Deep Learning, 2013) and while this had not been my intention it ended up being one of my
main topics of research. The way I see the technology being used is in creating AI that could
simulate a human being better in the way that it can store past events in a memory that is able
to be accessed later and can influence decisions later. There was also further research into how
the current goal of AI is to model the human brain in such a way that it is able to complete tasks
in the same way and even compete in intelligence tests. Hypothetically if deep learning is fully
developed I could see it acting as a major player of making humanoid robots often seen in
movies that are able to understand everything and surpass humans in intelligence. However, most
experts say the most practical use would be predicting traffic problems or weather events such as
hurricanes or blizzards.
The other topics I researched were not as interesting as deep learning but is still very
important to me, which is a summary of the software development career and implementation of
AI in video games. The market for jobs relating to software development is on the rise and is
growing much faster than the average for jobs. It also was able to show me an average salary for
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someone in the field which was around $135,000. This indicates that the potential for an open
job inside once I graduate college with the required degrees to earn. According to the website it
was described as growing much faster than average.(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015) I was able
to trust the website because it was run by the government as it was the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, I trusted that the website would provide correct evidence to support the job potential
since the government runs and fills in the information of each job according to statistics.
Another website that really helped me learn from was about how intelligent artificial
intelligence has grown to be and how it is behind the maximum potential for AI. It spoke
specifically about AI converging or learning of certain traits and basically making decisions from
that. They stated how while on paper that sounds really fun it would be very difficult to play
against when say for example in a fighting game where the goal is to be the computer every time
you make a move it is no longer available to you anymore, or rendered ineffective. However, it
does state that games will soon be catching up since other fields have seen success with learning
technology. I was surprised by what I found that games actually had more basic AI then they
could and that a main struggle of AI is making it dumb enough to where it is still fun for the
player. This piqued my interest since I had previously thought that video games were given the
most advanced technology in terms of everything since the hardware to run the games is always
the most advance computer technology that is consumer available as well as how large of an
As a general conclusion I was able to learn that deep learning is the next step for AI to go
into providing that the processing power is able to handle it. Also as a general career review that
software developers live a comfortable life with the average of $135,000 a year. Also that many
companies are campaigning to make the intelligence of AI in video games actually advanced and
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not lagging behind compared to the rest of the technology field. This was able to really solidify
my interest in a career in Software Development however it has gotten me a bit more inclined to
My Growth As A Researcher
I was able to learn a lot about how to research leading from how to research effectively to
how to evaluate certain websites. I learned that it is best to do research all continuously instead
of splitting it apart into little sections. While it was easier timewise it would have been a lot
better if I had been able to do the research in one sitting so I don't lose any information just from
not having it be continuous. Sadly, I would not have been able to do this either way as I had
either work or my parents took us on vacation so that I couldnt have enough constant time to
work on it all at once. I didnt enjoy using the google scholar functionality since it seemed to
block part of the potential websites that I could have found from professionals. It seemed to only
bring up certain papers that were written by college students or professors but sadly for my topic
those were not the best places to look for information since it would require a more hands-on
approach to the field of study. Overall it was a good way for me to look into the field of study a
bit more and I plan on doing some personal research into why AI is not as advanced as it could
be in video games.
Works Cited
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/253974/When_artificial_intelligence_in_video_games_be
comesartificially_intelligent.php
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What Skills Do I Need to Get a Job in Artificial Intelligence? (n.d.). Retrieved June 05,
profiles/games-developer
Hof, R. D. (2016, March 29). Is Artificial Intelligence Finally Coming into Its Own?
Why Deep Learning Is Suddenly Changing Your Life. (n.d.). Retrieved June 05, 2017,
from http://fortune.com/ai-artificial-intelligence-deep-machine-learning/
http://study.com/articles/Game_Designer_Job_Info_and_Requirements_for_Becoming_a_Game
_Designer.html