THE EVOLUTION OF INTELLIGENT DECISION MAKING IN GAMING

Intelligent decision making requires an ability to predict one's environment and respond in an optimal manner with respect to some underlying purpose. Decision making becomes more difficult when facing an intelligently interactive player who may be always cooperative, neutral, competitive, or change as required by the circumstance. Further difficulties are encountered when the other player's behavior can be determined only through interaction. Such problems can be addressed using a technique that simulates the logic of evolution. An environment is created that presents the prisoner's dilemma. “Organisms” that optimize behavior are evolved over generations. The results indicate that this “evolutionary programming” can be useful in interactive gaming with respect to arbitrary payoff functions.