EA wants to use machine learning to create real-time game narratives

EA boss Andrew Wilson has been speaking to Glixel about the publisher's plan for the next five years. 

Now, it's not uncommon to hear some of the industry's biggest names wax lyrical about the future or the 'next big thing' during E3. The whole point of the show, after all, is to get consumers foaming at the mouth about what lies ahead. 

But what's interesting about this particular pitch is the way Wilson described EA's plan to harness neural networks and machine learning to tell dynamic, engaging, and highly-personal stories. 

You see, he believes all games should strive to tell "amazing stories in an interactive world," and as a result, he's been challenging those working at EA to think of new ways to do exactly that. 

Faced with that hefty challenge, Wilson's team turned turned to our artificially intelligent counterparts in search of an answer. 

"What we know about neural networks and machine learning these days is that you can feed [a computer] every poem that Emily Dickinson has every written, then give it a subject, and it will write you an Emily Dickinson-esque poem that to a layman like me is indiscernible from the real thing," explained Wilson.

"So, what if you wanted to build a new Battlefield experience and you fed it every war story ever written? Could it tell you new and interesting and personal stories on a real-time basis every time you engage?" he ponders. Presumably the answer to this is 'yes.'" 

At the very least it's an interesting thought experiment, but if the brains over at EA can actually turn it into a reality, it could dramatically alter the way we experience and conceive video game narratives.

To hear more from Wilson, be sure to check out the full interview over on Glixel. It's well worth a read.