Almost 10 years ago I had a prototype where I played around with using a simple genetic algorithm to breed enemies that would be good against whatever play style you chose. The fitness function in it was just how long they could stay alive against you
They very quickly figured out that they could win at this strategy by just embedding themselves in the ground so you couldn't reach them. I adjusted their code to try and prevent them from embedding themselves in the ground.
They found a god damn glitch (specific set of parameters) that still let them do it despite the restrictions that I put in.
That's pretty much the reason that prototype got shelved, that kind of AI is terrible overall if you're trying to focus on something as abstract as 'fun' or 'challenge' that isn't clearly definable.
and yet thats the kind of algorithm that all the major content platforms on the internet use right now to curate their content and part of the reason the internet kinda sucks right now
if you optimize games for money you get mobile lootbox garbage. if you optimize videos for watch time you get vlogs that are 95% filler. if you optimize social media posts for view counts you get clickbait, lies, and freebooting
AI is really good at finding local minimums and maximums. Like "oh, promoting 45 minute videos gets more watch time than 5 minute videos". Its terrible at recognizing that promoting that kind of garbage will eventually cause people to leave for better platforms
this kind of AI curated garbage world is way more likely a scenario for an AI dystopia than a kurzweilian singularity. Step outside and The Algorithm decided that today's hot shit is clothespins. Buy all the clothespins. buy stock in clothespin co. watch videos about clothespins
all those thumbtacks you bought last week? yeah worthless now.
