It’s been a busy year for Minecraft, the ultra-popular sandbox game developed by Mojang and owned by Microsoft, and it sounds like things aren’t going to be slowing down anytime soon.
Just a couple of weeks after Mojang released Minecraft 1.9, the latest in a string of free updates for the game, Microsoft has announced plans to use Minecraft to create and test new artificial intelligence software. The new program will begin in July, with the release of a new software platform called AIX, and Microsoft’s new AI project will apparently be open to the public. All users need to do is download AIX and a own a copy of Minecraft. In the beginning, players won’t actually be able to interact with the artificial intelligence being developed on their computer; however, Microsoft does apparently hope to change that down the line.
According to BBC News, Microsoft decided to use Minecraft for the AIX platform because the open-ended nature of the game offers situations the research team couldn’t plan for. Interestingly, the company says it also wants to use AIX as a teaching tool, and will include AI development tools designed for younger children in addition to current AI experts.
The news continues what has already been a relatively busy year for the Minecraft team. In addition to publishing the game’s latest update last month, Microsoft also announced plans to launch Minecraft: Education Edition this summer, giving teachers and other educators a new way to teach their students. That said, few would argue that the upcoming artificial intelligence program is one of the company’s most ambitious projects since acquiring the Minecraft license from Notch back in 2014.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more Minecraft coverage throughout 2016 and for as long as Microsoft and Mojang support Minecraft in the years to come.
