Cheating artificial intelligence

Cheating artificial intelligence is gaming terminology for when a multi-player game controls a player using artificial intelligence that does not have to abide by the same rules as the human players. Most video games which use an AI opponent incorporate a cheating AI since it is much easier to program than a competent AI which follows the rules.

Because good AI is so difficult to program, I'm generally okay with games which use a cheating AI provided even a observant player can't tell if it is cheating. When it's clear the AI is cheating, the game stops being as enjoyable. For example, in the fighting game Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, there are special moves that the player can only use by holding a direction on the D-pad for two seconds. However, the AI is clearly able to use these same moves instantly. I find this especially infuriating because the AI doesn't have to bother with a human's slow reflexes or clumsy input, so the AI could follow the rules and still have a strong advantage over the player.

Definition

For the purposes of this page, "cheating" means an AI which is programmed to break rules. This is different than an AI which is not fairly calibrated to the skill level of the player. For example, poker-playing AIs have been designed that can play at a super-human level guaranteeing victory over any human. Such an AI is not evenly matched to the human player, but it is not cheating because it follows the same rules as the human players. However, if the AI were told which cards are in each opponent's hand, something the human players are not allowed to know, it would be cheating.

Also, "cheating" in this context only applies to multi-player games where the player and AI are expected to be evenly matched. There are a lot of platform games where the player takes damage if they land on spikes, but the AI-controlled enemies do not. Although this may not be realistic or fair, this is not an example of a "cheating" AI in this context. Likewise, it's not "cheating" just because the AI doesn't accurately simulate a human body with all its flaws in sensory perception, delayed reflexes, and cognitive impairments.

Examples

This is a list of games which are important to me that feature a cheating AI, for the full list, see the category.

Title	Released	Notes
Diddy Kong Racing	1997-10-21	Uses rubberband AI, but not as bad as Mario Kart 64.
Mario Kart series	1992-08-27	The series makes blatant use of rubberband AI.
Street Fighter series	1990-12-16	Most early games in the series allow the AI to perform delay-based special moves instantly.

Links