AI Just Generated Minecraft

On Oct. 31, 2024, a copy of the famous video game, Minecraft was released free to the public. In this version of the video game, you can run, jump, dig and explore, just like in the original. However, what’s strange is that the game wasn’t programmed, it was generated from millions of hours of Minecraft gameplay with no code other than to imitate the experience.

Oasis

“Etched,”a specialized chip manufacture, partnered with “Decart,” an Israeli startup focused on AI development, to create the Oasis AI model.

Oasis is the first, interactive, real-time, AI video model. It takes user inputs and uses “Next-frame prediction” to generate the video and interactions that the user sees on their screen. It is the first proof of concept of real-time generative video games, producing a clone experience of ‘Minecraft’ at about 20 frames per second. 

Weaknesses

While Oasis is quite the accomplishment, the model still has much more room for improvement before it comes close to fully imitating real Minecraft. Oasis tends to be susceptible to hallucinations, when an AI generates random artifacts without relevance or reason lack of object permanence, limited memory capacity over long distances and difficulty representing small details.

Despite its weaknesses, the model is still a proof of concept and an impressive one at that, begging the question: What will the world of video game development look like with AI playing an increasingly prominent role?