Artificial Intelligence is a branch of science concerned with making computers "think". AI is a combination of computer science, mathematics, philosophy, linguistics and physiology. Though the original goal was to create an intelligent computer, there are applications of AI that extend far beyond that quest. AI has been applied to a variety of industries, including credit card/transaction approval, factory scheduling and planning, Neural nets and of course, computer games.

The Web, with its roots in problem solving and knowledge representation, is a perfect environment for AI. The growth of the Web and the need to organize it and search it intelligently has pushed AI forward at an amazing rate.

One of the most promising uses for AI is the retrieval of information from Intranets and the Internet. Intranets are internal corporate networks structured much like the Internet, but with standardized protocols. Information overload is a significant problem on both the Internet and on Intranets. AI is becoming a potent tool for handling this problem. An increasing number of Web-based AI applications--intelligent search engines and browsers, learning agents, and knowledge-sharing agents--have begun to emerge. You can now find a bot to search for just about anything you are looking for on the web. There are not only shopping bots there are data mining bots, news group bots, stock search bots and even bots to search for viruses. You can have multiple bots searching for anything you want in the background while you are getting other work done on your computer.

And although these AI applications have grown increasingly attractive because of the Internet, they may hold even more promise for Intranets. Business can have bots constantly searching their Intranet to tell them which projects are going over budget or past deadline. When a bot comes back with an 'alert,' that information can be placed in context. Agents need to tell users why the alert was generated; where to go for further information without having to generate a complicated query; and, ideally, how to resolve the problem or capitalize on the opportunity.

While AI is a powerful tool, in the short term A-Life may be more useful for Web3D developers. Artificial Life is a branch of AI that focuses on getting a computer to model the ways and processes of nature. Instead of focusing on just the intelligence aspect of life, A-Life focuses on making autonomous agents act like they are alive, and work backward. To paraphrase Chris Langton, the founder of the field, the goal of ALife is to "model life as it could be so as to understand life as we know it". ALife spans such diverse topics as artificial evolution, artificial ecosystems and genetic algorithms. Later in this article, we will discuss how many game developers are using A-Life techniques to create believable creatures within their worlds.

The power of A-Life techniques stems from its roots in the study of real-world living organisms. A-Life seeks to emulate that behavior through a variety of methods that can use hard-coded rules, genetic algorithms, flocking algorithms, and so on. Rather than try to code up a huge variety of extremely c omplex behaviors (similar to cooking a big meal), developers can break down the problem into smaller pieces (for example, open refrigerator, grab a dinner, put it in the microwave). These behaviors are then linked in some kind of decision-making hierarchy that the game characters use (in conjunction with motivating emotions, if any) to determine what actions they need to take to satisfy their needs. The interactions that occur between the low-level, explicitly coded behaviors and the motivations/needs of the characters causes higher-level, more "intelligent" behaviors to emerge without any explicit, complex programming.

A-Life is being used extensively in computer games today including such popular games as Maxis's The Sims and CogniToy's Mind Rover. Many game developers are finding that A-Life techniques provide them with flexible ways to create realistic, lifelike behavior in their game character.

Sims designer Will Wright has created environments he calls "smart terrain" using A-life techniques. In "smart terrain" the environment itself talks to the creatures. Each piece of terrain broadcasts to nearby characters what it has to offer. So if a Sim within The Sims environment feel hungry, the it will be attracted to the nearest place that broadcasts that it has food, be it an ice cream parlor or a refrigerator. Proximity and need are the main triggers for the Sim, which causes it to act much as people would in a similar situation.

There is so much going on in AI right now that we must conclude that AI and Web3D may someday become powerful partners on the Web.