Modern computer games are becoming more and more like reality, and reality – like computer games. And if in the first case we play the role of heroes, then in the second we play the role of nameless NPCs, whose possible moves have been calculated in advance by the scriptwriter
Role-Playing Game
Have you ever played RPG computer games? In such games, the player controls one or more heroes who travel the world, interact with other characters, perform various tasks, fight monsters, trade and do a bunch of other interesting things. And all their actions have some kind of influence both on themselves and on the world around them. Somewhere there are more options for passing, somewhere less, but if you choose another character or try to play some other role, then the repeated passage will still be different from the first. Those who willingly gave instructions to a good wizard will refuse to talk with an evil necromancer, where a strong but narrow-minded paladin saw only one way out of the situation, a weak but cunning thief will come up with a dozen of them. And these are the simplest and most obvious examples. The best representatives of the genre calculated changes in the outlook and character of your hero, took into account the reputation with different factions and determined how each of his actions was perceived by his companions and friends. Sometimes the player did not even know that this or that plot twist was provoked by himself, and was never completely sure how his choice would come back to haunt in the future. All this creates the feeling of a truly living world, which is inhabited by no less living creatures.
Interestingly, from a technical point of view, all this is implemented quite simply, no artificial intelligence or miscalculations of complex multi-pass combinations is required here. Which is understandable – the mechanics of computer RPGs often copy the mechanics of board games, where everything was calculated using a pencil, paper and a few cubes.
Each character has a number of parameters that reflect his physical data, talents, skills and worldview. It is on these numbers that the set of actions allowed for it depends. In order to open the lock with a master key, you need at least 5 dexterity, and to simply knock the door down – strength at least 8. Those who have a value in the 'knowledge' column of no more than 3 will not pass the exam for admission to the magic academy, although a really talented hero (with the value of talents 'magic' and 'alchemy' above 7) will be accepted there without any exams at all.
Naturally, in the course of the game, the numbers describing the character change. For each year of study at the university, the hero receives +1 to knowledge, and for each mug of beer drunk in the tavern – +1 to courage, but -1 to accuracy and -2 to wisdom. Rough phrases increase the parameter 'conflict', and polite ones add points of 'good manners' to the 'light character'.
Our whole life is a game, and people in it are actors
For those who are even a little fond of computer or board games, this is nothing new. The system was invented God knows how many years ago and has not undergone any fundamental changes since then. Cheap and cheerful. And most importantly, it is effective. Having played with the characteristics of the character, you can even try to turn him into a copy of a real person, simulating not only his appearance and physical data, but also his character. The more complex the game and the more options available in it, the more the invented character will look like a living one. But even in the very first The Sims, where each 'sim' doesn't have a dozen parameters, some enthusiasts tried to model their family or friends. And in some cases it is not at all unsuccessful.
Few people think that from the point of view of an outside observer, you and I are also not much different from such computer characters. In the same way, we can be 'digitized' by describing with the help of several columns of numbers, and then with a high degree of probability predict our behavior in some situations or attitudes towards certain things. In fact, this is a little more difficult than creating a character in a computer role-playing game, the difficulty is only in one thing – you need to somehow calculate the primary characteristics, and then track their changes. However, is it really that difficult?
You are the chosen one. Google version
One of the simplest examples of this approach is a recent post from Ubergizmo, which tells how one of the readers unexpectedly got a job at Google.
Sitting at his computer, Max Rosett searched the web for information on programming languages, from time to time typing various technical terms into Google. At one point, the search engine told him that since they speak the same language with him, they may well play one funny game. The 'game' turned out to be Google's proprietary programming test, in which Max Rosett had to solve several practical problems. Moreover, each of his answers was secretly analyzed by the company using five special algorithms.
A couple of hours later, a Google employee contacted him and offered to come for an interview, and in the evening of the same day Max Rosett was officially hired. Without many hours of interviews with a bunch of HR specialists and filling out hundreds of questionnaires, without waiting for the results of the general competition, without a heap of references from past jobs and a heap of certificates.
Link to news
Actually, this is exactly how it happens in computer games – as soon as it turns out that a particular character meets the conditions of the quest, a game event prepared in advance by the scriptwriter is launched. The game evaluates the player's actions, secretly comparing them with a number of game parameters, and then invites the lucky one to join the secret order of magicians or join the mercenaries. After all, now it is definitely clear that the character has pumped up profile skills and level 99 monsters will not be a problem for him.
I don’t know if this was really the case or if we were facing an ordinary duck. But this is not so important – it is much more important that it could well be so. Moreover, this is the simplest option, in which no special information about the user was even collected. Or – it was not advertised what was going.
Go digital
We are used to the fact that content advertising is tailored to our interests and takes into account the latest search queries. We are not surprised by services like Google Now or automatic recommendations to follow 'like-minded' people in Twitter. We consider it completely natural when a store invites us to pay attention to this or that product, since “it is popular with other buyers who made the same purchase”, and hotel booking services offer to compile a personal selection of great deals. And we have long thought that self-learning algorithms for filtering spam or sorting products by popularity are as natural as morning coffee.
All these are bricks, from which something much larger will be formed over time. Separately, they are not of any interest, but together they perfectly describe both general trends and the behavior of each individual person. These are the very numbers of characteristics that will say much more about him than any interview or even a self-written memoir. Words can deceive, actions cannot.
Make a list of all the popular news outlets, give each of them points of 'Political Correctness', 'Patriotism' and 'Yellowness'. Check what exactly and how often this or that person reads, and you can easily assess not only his political views, but also his attitude to US policy or the crisis in Ukraine. And at the same time, pay attention to what kind of news he most often opens, and draw a conclusion what issues are of the greatest interest to him (domestic or foreign policy, technology news or social issues, etc.).
Conduct a simple analysis of his correspondence on social networks, count the number of words used and the most common turns – this will show the level of his reading and give an idea of his outlook. Count how often Google has to correct errors in its search queries – here's your literacy level. Analyze the queries themselves, making a selection by keywords – here is a list of main interests, and at the same time an approximate level of well-being (it is unlikely that a poor student will often look for covers for iPhone 6 and be interested in five-star hotels in Rome). And to be sure, also collect statistics on the devices from which he went online (any site has long been determining the screen resolution, browser version and OS). Run a scan of photos from his feed Instagram and find out not only how often and to which countries he goes on vacation, but also what his marital status and how many children are. I suspect that the latter is quite feasible today, but photo recognition algorithms are improving day by day.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, you can go on for a long time. Take, for example, the history of locations and visits to different places, which is collected both on iPhone and Android smartphones. For many companies (starting from the same Google), this data has been technically available for a long time, albeit with a number of conditions, restrictions and reservations.
Wake up, Neo …
We got so caught up in the news about smart devices, robots and artificial intelligence that we didn't notice our own world becoming more and more like a game. Moreover, the game, although interesting, is inherently quite simple, no more difficult than the role-playing games of twenty years ago.
Knowing the characteristics of the characters, even an ordinary player will be able to predict their behavior without any problems. He will easily determine which parameters are better to pump in order to achieve the set goal, which words are better to choose in a dialogue, to whom to approach with what proposal, what exactly and for what price to whom to sell. A game designer of a computer game or GM (host) of a board game will be able to do many times more – for example, imperceptibly adjust the parameters of game objects by adjusting the game balance in the desired direction. Slightly increase the strength of the beer in the tavern that players love, slightly reduce the level of knowledge gained at the magic university, slightly change the cost of alchemical ingredients in the popular shop. The characteristics of the players are known to him in advance, the characteristics of the planned events too, which means that it will not be difficult to predict the further behavior of the characters. It's not even psychology (what kind of psychology can the heroes of the game have?) It's elementary mathematics. A simple task that will be up to a middle school student.
Have you ever wondered what the NPC (non-player character controlled by a computer) living in the game thinks of the game world? Or what does the computer man from The Sims think about free will, who seems to also live on his own and acts in accordance with the values of the 'need' and 'characteristics' columns? Does the hero of a computer game believe in the existence of game designers and can he, at least in theory, outsmart the screenwriter? The questions may be interesting, but obviously not enough to dream of knowing the answer on your own skin. But isn't it too late to rush about? We ourselves released this genie from the bottle, and no matter what he has in mind, it will definitely not be possible to drive him back. Now we can only hope that it will turn out to be a good genie.
