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Growing up, my parents decided to move abroad for better job opportunities. Although I was born in the Netherlands, I spent most of my childhood in Hong Kong and Australia. When I was twelve we returned to the Netherlands. My parents enrolled me in a Dutch primary school for my final year before high school, hoping it would accelerate my grasp of the language. While I could speak Dutch conversationally, reading and writing were much harder, not to mention my thick accent and the challenge of mastering numbers like “54,” where the Dutch speak the digits in reverse order compared to English.

Navigating the complexities of Dutch, with its numerous grammatical rules has always been a struggle. Even now, though my spoken Dutch has improved significantly, my writing skills are lacking. This is largely because my academic journey—both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees—has been in English. While I may look and sound very Dutch, there are still moments when I can’t find the right words, resulting in weird translations or a mix of English and Dutch. Therefore, I often feel like people assume I’m less competent than I am because of this, which can be very frustrating.

For years, I relied on my mom/dad or friends to proofread anything I had to write in Dutch, whether emails or casual messages. But since discovering ChatGPT, everything changed. Now, I can simply input my intermediate Dutch, and with a few clicks, I get improved suggestions. It’s not just about having better text but it’s also about seeing how sentences are structured, which has taught me to improve my writing. This tool has given me a new level of independence and made me more confident in my abilities.

Reflecting on this, it’s clear that AI tools like ChatGPT have an incredible potential to empower people. For anyone struggling with a language or feeling insecure about how they express themselves, these tools can break down the barriers that might otherwise hold them back. It’s not just about convenience; it’s about growth and building confidence in areas that once seemed overwhelming. Looking at how far I’ve come in my Dutch writing, I can only imagine how transformative these technologies will be for others navigating similar challenges.

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Non-playable characters (NPCs) are a thing of the past. Thanks to a groundbreaking effort by six computer scientists, NPCs can now join your quests, think for themselves, and take hints instead of just walking into walls. Their latest creation, “Smallville,” shows this leap in gaming technology (Park, et al., 2023).

Imagine a blend of Pokémon and The Sims, but with an IQ of 200. Smallville features 25 generative AI characters powered by a large language model (LLM) similar to ChatGPT. These characters, referred to as “agents,” can act, perceive, react, and interact with players and other agents to achieve goals. Here is a screenshot of the game:

Each character in Smallville has a detailed backstory and can draw conclusions about themselves, other agents, and their environment by storing new information in memory. They exhibit believable human behaviors—planning, engaging in meaningful conversations, and unwinding at a bar in the evenings (Works, 2024). For instance, when one character was tasked with hosting a Valentine’s Day party, they took the initiative to invite friends, decorate the café, and play matchmaker—all on their own! Below you can find an example of this conversation:

However, the scientists behind Smallville noted that these agents aren’t without quirks. Sometimes, they struggle to absorb information correctly, making choices like visiting closed stores or choosing a bar instead of a café for lunch (Park, et al., 2023). But isn’t that just a reflection of human nature? How often have you stood in front of a closed store or wanted a beer in the afternoon because it’s just one of those days?

This innovation excites me about the future of the gaming industry. Just think about the possibilities: Do these AI agents ponder the boundaries of their city? Do they wonder what lies beyond the tile maps? What if they tried to form their own government or even commit crimes? It would be fascinating to see how their interactions might mirror historical events, opening a landscape for storytelling as their population grows.

In my view, it would be engaging to create a game where these agents function under a set of unbreakable rules, allowing them to live their virtual lives independently of player involvement. Integrating each agent with an LLM could elevate the experience, enabling players to have dynamic, meaningful conversations that feel incredibly real. I’m eager to see where this technology leads us!

Check out the demo of the game here: https://reverie.herokuapp.com/arXiv_D…

Sources:
Works, F. (2024, 8 6). Why autonomous AI “agents” will be so important to your business. Retrieved from Fast Company: https://www.fastcompany.com/91167385/why-autonomous-ai-agents-will-be-so-important-to-your-business

Park, J. S., O’Brien, J. C., Cai, C. J., Morris, M. R., Liang, P., & Bernstein, M. S. (2023). Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior. Proceedings of the 36th annual acm symposium on user interface software and technology (pp. , 1-22.