Computer-controlled video game characters are not new. Non-playable characters, or NPCs, have long been a feature of gaming.
However, DeepMind, Google's AI research group, has disclosed development on SIMA which is a novel in computer-controlled gameplay.
Unlike NPCs, Google DeepMind's AI-controlled gaming companion is not programmed to behave in a certain way or respond to human-provided activities.
SIMA interacts with players by mimicking human behaviour and responding to vocal orders.
According to Google, "SIMA isn't trained to win a game." It is designed to collaborate with the human player and take actions based on natural language inputs.