A Real-Life Matrix: The Disturbing New Trend Of 'Waking' Video Game AI Explained

Few films have had the kind of impact on the zeitgeist as "The Matrix." Not only did it inspire numerous other science-fiction properties, but it's bled into the real world, having people question all of existence around us. It's a touchstone for the conspiracy that all of reality as we know it is actually a hyper-advanced computer simulation, proposing the question, "What is the Matrix in real life?" 

It pontificates how there could be an even more intelligent and advanced civilization beyond ours that essentially uses us as a game of "The Sims." What would happen if people broke through this hypothetical "Matrix" and could see into this other society? We may have just gotten a glimpse based on some playthrough videos of "The Matrix Awakens."

The open-world video game allows you to interact with non-playable characters (NPCs), but you don't just have to follow a pre-written script. You can ask them anything, and some players have used this to get existential and make the NPCs question their existence. For example, TikToker @tutanchimmun uploaded a video of him talking to an NPC on the street about how he recorded their last conversation to put on YouTube and how people were into it. The NPC actually seems scared and wants to know why he would record their conversation. 

Other videos seem to depict the NPCs as becoming aware they are simulations. That same channel has another ominous video where an NPC says he's going to meet up with an imaginary friend because he didn't have any "real" ones until he met the player. Many commenters are freaked out, especially about what it could mean for our world. 

These "The Matrix Awakens" videos have spawned a wide range of comments. Many people seem to think there's actual intelligence within these characters due to the fact they run on an AI system. Others ruminate on what that means for our world. What if someone from another plane of existence came up to you on the street and told you that this was all a video game? How would you react?

Fortunately, there's really no need for concern ... yet. The thing about how AI is used currently is that it's not actually an artificial intelligence. It's not capable of learning and adapting on its own. AI, as it's used in tech circles, is machine learning, like when you go to text someone on your phone, and it provides you with possible words that come next. When you type "Thank," it can be assumed the next word will probably be "you." Things like ChatGPT are essentially advanced versions of that tool, and when it comes to the NPCs in "The Matrix Awakens," they operate similarly. 

In one of the @tutanchimmun videos, he asks for the NPC's email address. The NPC responds, "What does a dress have to do with anything?" It obviously misheard "address" and responded tangentially to "a dress" coming up in the conversation. These characters aren't becoming self-aware; they're responding to prompts in a way that would make sense given their coding. That's not to say AI couldn't become a genuine intelligence at some point, but that's a ways off, if it happens at all. Still, it's unsettling how scared these NPCs sound when weighty conversations arise. As for whether we exist inside a simulation, it's probably ...

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