[ExI] Killer apps for AI-controlled avatars in virtual worlds ??

[Mike Dougherty]

On 5/4/07, Benjamin Goertzel <ben at goertzel.org> wrote:
> I think it's a great idea, and I note that training simulations are a fairly
> major market.  More for corporate and professional training than for
> kids or university students.

I have yet to play with a Wii - but if there were a tennis trainer
that actually imitated and commented on the person's playing ability,
it might provide the sim version of a professional coach.

I also envision the avatar being my digital bodyguard between me and
the virtual environment:  I don't have the attention span to present a
different face (literally & figuratively) to everyone in a space.
Suppose I don't want my mom to see the avatar I present to my
friends...  I should be able to present multiple avatars.  I doubt I
would be able to do that convincingly in real-time.  If my
AGI-assisted interface allowed me to time slice between 2+ copies of
"my" identity, then I am software enhanced via the AGI agent.  This is
more than simple PDA, because over time an AGI would learn me as well
as those others that I interact with.  Eventually the AGI would be a
second skin around (what I might believe is) my core identity.  Call
it a virtual cyborg for those who embrace the enhancement yet don't
want the hardware implants.  Identity security would be an issue here
though, perhaps mitigated a bit if the AGI became keyed to the core
identity so much that it were unusable by anyone else.