With more than 40% market share in mobile games, billion monthly active users and 2.6 billion unique devices, Unity plays a profoundly important role in the booming gaming and VR markets. Introducing machine learning and AI into game development will curb one of the greatest expenses in time and money that go into content creation, but will also change the role of programmers. With immense access to data and computing power, developers will use historical data to model extensive virtual realities of games, taking programming out of the equation. Sing up to my newsletter Exponential View to receive weekly updates on the most pressing questions in technology HERE I spoke with Dr Danny Lange, VP of AI and machine learning at Unity about this, the present and future of game development, machine learning, and how developers and startups can get most out of it. We cover a range of topics, including: The difference between artificial intelligence and machine learning The paradigm shift from deterministic to probabilistic computing How to deliver machine learning in a large company How it changes the role of management How (and when) software engineers may become irrelevant Dr Danny Lange is VP of AI and machine learning at Unity Technologies. Before joining Unity, he led the machine learning efforts at Uber, Amazon and Microsoft. Through his work on General Motor’s OnStar Virtual Advisor, Danny provided the foundation for the development of one of the largest deployments of an intelligent personal assistant until the arrival of Siri. Prior to joining General Magic, Dr. Lange was Visiting Scientist at IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory, 1993 to 1997, where he is known for his invention of the Java Aglet, a lightweight mobile agent for the Java programming environment. In addition to his software agent work, he has also made significant contributions in the areas of hypertext technology, object-oriented database modeling, and Design Pattern visualization techniques. For weekly updates sign up to Exponential View here
