Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island review - a repetitive if inoffensive offering of the godsMythbusting.Image credit: Eurogamer/Whitethorn Games Review by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Dec. 13, 2024 A gentle cadence and quirky characters can't counter Mythwrecked's repetitiveness, making this more Greek tragedy than odyssey.As I drag on another hoodie and fight the urge to put on the heating, the soft sands and sun-bleached stones of Ambrosia Island are undeniably appealing. So, too, is Mythwrecked's promise of a wholesome, frictionless adventure - as we haul ourselves towards 2024's finishing line, I can't imagine anything more delightful than losing a few hours exploring a lush, tropical island.Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island reviewDeveloper: Polygon TreehousePublisher: Whitehorn GamesPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X/S and Xbox OneIf you go in with that mindset, knowing that Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is an uncomplicated, unhurried game that unfolds gently over ten-ish hours, then I don't suppose there's much to be offended by. You're Alex, a young woman shipwrecked on an island paradise where a gaggle of Greek gods are dealing with collective memory loss and friendship fallouts. Your job is to jog the former and foster the latter by scouring the island for lost mementoes to help your new pals remember who they are and why they loved each other in the first place.The gods, reskinned in contemporary personas that will delight and irk in equal measure, are initially wary but open up as you converse and do favours for them, as well as uncover clues about their lives before you got there. Every potential pal is unlocked in precisely the same way (chat, do favours, get mementoes, chat more, do more favours, get more mementoes), which means that from as early as a half-hour in, you're done - Mythwrecked won't have any more surprises for you.Watch on YouTubeAnd look, I get it. Maybe this is exactly what you're looking for. Maybe you're a little burnt out on the AAA grind and are seeking a game that's gentle and predictable in precisely this way. Maybe you love the back-and-forth of fetch quests and treasure hunts across the petite Ambrosia. All of this is true of me, too, but ultimately, there's a fine line between predictable and boring, and Mythwrecked sadly falls just on the wrong side of it for me.As pretty as it is, the world of Ambrosia is curiously forgettable. You're either stomping along the sand or stamping across non-descript grey stone, and although each god has their unique style and personality represented in their immediate surroundings, the world around them embodies little of it. This means no beach feels particularly different from the next, and no part of the citadel looks distinct either. Your journey from point A to B will inevitably be frustrated by a Greek pot that, to my chagrin, we cannot break, or be blocked entirely by the weird placement of a barrel or a dead-end. For the home of gods, it's all surprisingly pedestrian, tricky to traverse, and well, dull. Image credit: Eurogamer/Whitethorn GamesThere is a fast-travel system, though. Kinda. While you can't instantly zip back and forth between places at a whim, there are nine magical doors across the island which will always transport you back to the shrine in the middle of the map near your home - a trick that Polygon Treehouse's debut game Roki pulled off to great effect when used in a point and click puzzle context. Your home itself is quite pointless as a space, mind, and I never bothered with it after I realised I couldn't do anything there but sleep. But I do appreciate the return of these magic doors, though, especially when I'm trying to find a god or complete a favour at a particular time of day.That's right - there's a dynamic day/night cycle. Some gods are only available to chat at certain times, and some favours can only be completed during set windows, too. Unlike Animal Crossing, though, you don't have to leave IRL and come back (or sneakily change the time on your device). Across the isle are about eleventy gazillion benches where you can sit and change the time to whatever you want which makes the whole cycle-thing a little redundant. Image credit: Eurogamer/Whitethorn GamesThat's the problem here. While I appreciate these quality of life touches, they make much of Mythwrecked's mechanics unnecessary. You can also trade Ambrosia fruit, but just like the day/night cycle that can be overruled at almost any moment well, there's almost no point to it. Firstly, the fruit grows everywhere; all greedy gods need do is step outside and grab one, ffs. Nonetheless, the story requires you to gather it up and use it to barter with the gods for anything from keys to cassettes to plots of land where you can grow even more Ambrosia fruit. This could've been an interesting wrinkle, but there's so much of the stuff (check out the map image below - all those yellow dots are a fruit I've yet to collect!) I bought every item I could the moment they unlocked, and still didn't run out. And I finished the game with 350+ of the bloody things left over. Image credit: Eurogamer/Whitethorn GamesCollecting mementoes and completing favours is strikingly simplistic, too. There's a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing - this is not a game that respects your time - and I did find the piecemeal way the chores were doled out irritating towards the end, as often you'll complete a set of favours in one area only to be sent back there five minutes later for something else. Trying to work out which hidden memento belongs to whom is neat, though - I never went to the Oracle for guidance; working it out for myself was much more rewarding, especially when Alex is on the hunt for several gods simultaneously. Chasing the proximity signals was a cool mini-puzzle feature, too - I never tired of that satisfying beep as you got nearer and nearer to your prize.The more you play, though, the less engaging it all feels. While Mythwrecked's cast is diverse, its world is not, with very little to make each area feel unique or worth exploring. The fixed camera that you're not allowed to manipulate is always getting in the way, too, sometimes creating unforced errors as you enter and exit shrine doorways. There are teeny steps Alex can't (read: won't) climb. Interactions with the gods are twee at best and cringey at worst, and even if you completely suspend reality, the relationships Alex rapidly forges with each individual god feel forced and saccharin rather than meaningful, not least because each character's vocal emote is grossly over-used. There's always a trickle of excitement as you collect enough seals to unlock a new area, but even that ends up being disappointing; the puzzles you complete to open the doors are uninspired to the point of insulting. Image credit: Eurogamer/Whitethorn GamesMythwrecked: Ambrosia Island accessibility optionsYou can't tweak the difficulty, but as this is one of the simplest things you'll ever play, that doesn't really matter here. You can, however, switch sprint from hold to toggle, remove vibration and camera shake, and autoplay dialogue - well, text; there is no real dialogue - at your preferred speed. You can't change the size or font of your subtitles.There are so many ways a little tweak here or there could have elevated the adventure. The mosaics we uncover for Aphrodite - what if they were all different, perhaps telling their own stories? The string lights we power for Zeus and Hades - could they have been different colours, maybe revealing hitherto hidden secrets when lit? What if the ghosts heard things as they roamed the island at night? The Lighthouse we call home and spruce up with home decor both scavenged and saved for - couldn't we at least have been able to decorate our own home on our own? As it stands, the stuff you find is auto-magically added whether you want it or not. You cannot remove or reposition anything. You can't change the colours or add your own little touch. There's absolutely no agency here, yet so much squandered opportunity.If you've been looking for a simple, low-stress adventure to settle down with the kids this Christmas, then Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is as good a punt as any other, not least because it's entirely without swears, sex, or violence. Beyond that, though, with its overly simple puzzling, uninspired environments, and repetitive fetch quests, I'm sorry to say I'm not entirely sure who else Mythwrecked is for.A copy of Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island was provided for review by publisher Whitethorn Games.

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereFortnite has released thousands of cosmetic items over the past seven years, and some of them have become quite rare. A couple of cosmetics havent returned in more than 2,000 days, while more than 100 of them were last seen four or more years ago. On Friday night, several rare cosmetics returned, and some of them were last available in 2021.If youve been looking to obtain some Fortnite items that havent been out for a while, here is your chance!The return of rare cosmetics in FortniteEpic Games brought many rare cosmetics back with the last reset of the Item Shop. Nine of them were last seen a year ago or longer, while the shop also contains Christmas-themed cosmetics that were last available in December 2023. This shop has certainly been one of the best in recent weeks, especially for those looking to get a rare emote.Out West Fortnite emote was last seen nearly three years ago before its return. Image by VideoGamerAt the moment, you can purchase three emotes that were last seen 1,000 or more days ago. Here is an entire list of all the rare Fortnite cosmetics that returned on Friday and were last available 365 or more days ago:Ride Along emote 373 daysRing It On emote 373 daysHoliday Hydrant back bling 373 daysMy World emote 378 daysRocket Rodeo emote 509 daysCozy Holidays wrap 705 daysOut West emote 1,021 daysJabba Switchway emote 1,216 daysPull Up emote -1,251 daysWith the Winterfest 2024 event around the corner, we expect the Fortnite developer to bring back even more rare cosmetics over the next two weeks. Furthermore, the event will likely feature several free cosmetics, allowing us to expand our collection of skins without spending V-Bucks. FortnitePlatform(s):Android, iOS, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/XGenre(s):Action, Massively Multiplayer, Shooter9VideoGamerSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

Labyrinths seemed to have gone hand in hand with these vivid hues, for maximum kaleidoscopic effect. Among the most eye-catching (and irresistibly soft) were Dedars Jamu Jungle and Dj Vu Jamais, made all the more mesmerizing in flamingo pink. For a more subtle print on the eyes, S. Harriss Malay diffused a full spectrum of hues in an ethereal fabric.This fall, Maharam introduced Nova by Sander Lak, the latest in the design studios collaboration with the Sies Marjan fashion designer. I wanted to develop a pattern that captures our experience of color in a space and how color flows, grows, and moveslike starting to mix a pot of paint, says Lak.Woodland EmbarkingArborists had a field day in textiles this year, with stylized, chic tree designs sprouting up throughout 2024. Take Sahcos Art Decoesque forest Sariska print, which features a meandering path of tiny geometric trees and metallic touches. Artes vibrant Riverbank jacquard wall covering, inspired by the glamour of mid-century Japan, took a more pastoral turn. Taking cues from Art Nouveau, the equally exuberant Sheltering Pond mural by Aux Abris drew from Shelter Islands woodland escapes.Dedars Il Giardino In Una Stanza felt nearly magical with its ultra-subtle imagery of bamboo, birds, and insects, achieved through varying piles in the jacquard velvet, while House of Hackneys Trees Please print similarly felt straight out of a storybook. For fauna with a modern but versatile feel, Larsen debuted a stunning leaf-like printed fabric in upholstery and drapery weight. The design promises to be a chic and trusty alternative to the ubiquitous palm print.Stamp of ApprovalWhile many brands channeled classic prints from India, others put twists on stamped motifs, ranging from delicate florals to bold geometrics. Abstract highlights include Fermoies flowing repeat, Ruffle, which comes in 17 colorways, as well as Raptus & Wrights Pablos Polka, available at Studio Four NYC through the UK brands US exclusive with Lucy Rose Design. And inspired by founder Cara Georges great aunt who lived across the pond, textile studio Otea launched this fall with chic offeringsmany of which emulate block printsinformed by folk art, architectural antiquity, flora, fauna, and more.Maison Venu, Schuyler Samperton Textiles, Peter Dunham Textiles, and Nina Campbell were among the slew of brands packing pops of color through printed petals. We love how this style deliberately embraces the imperfections of hand-made craftlines and prints may not match precisely, and colors may not be distributed evenly, but that only adds to the appeal.Dialing Up the CharmA certifiable mark of a personality-driven interior? A novelty print, of course. This years irresistible motifs were far-flung in nature, but shared one idea: They piled on the charm! Take Nina Campbells recent designs for Osborne & Little, a.k.a. the Dallimore collection, which takes its name from pioneering English botanist William Dallimore. Its Tudeley fabric was especially jubilant with its potted plants detailed in myriad shades. More funky than dainty, the print feels fresh and akin to the blooms of contemporary artists like Jonas Wood.

15 Blender free scripts By Semy on December 13, 2024 Add-ons Semy created a pack of 15 useful Blender scripts, randing from keyframe and collection manipulation to mesh conversion and generation.A gift for our Blender Nation community!We made 15 Blender mini scripts and gave them totally for free. They will save you hours of tedious work inside the Blender.Get the scripts here.Here is the video of what is inside:And don't worry you don't have to have any experience with scripting or Python. I explained everything in the video.What is inside? Clear Visibility Keyframes In Collection Sequential Object Keyframer Sort Collections and Objects Alphabetically Sort Selected Collection Alphabetically Remove Empty Collections Apply Transforms To Collection Rename Objects With Prefix Suffix Toggle Collection Visibility Move Objects To Origin Convert Curve Objects To Meshes Batch Rename Objects By Type Select Objects By Material Align Selected To Active Batch Apply Modifiers To Selected Objects Generate LOD Models Have fun and share the to 3D

Three hundred twenty-four. That was the score Mary Louis was given by an AI-powered tenant screening tool. The software, SafeRent, didnt explain in its 11-page report how the score was calculated or how it weighed various factors. It didnt say what the score actually signified. It just displayed Louiss number and determined it was too low. In a box next to the result, the report read: Score recommendation: DECLINE.Louis, who works as a security guard, had applied for an apartment in an eastern Massachusetts suburb. At the time she toured the unit, the management company said she shouldnt have a problem having her application accepted. Though she had a low credit score and some credit card debt, she had a stellar reference from her landlord of 17 years, who said she consistently paid her rent on time. She would also be using a voucher for low-income renters, guaranteeing the management company would receive at least some portion of the monthly rent in government payments. Her son, also named on the voucher, had a high credit score, indicating he could serve as a backstop against missed payments.But in May 2021, more than two months after she applied for the apartment, the management company emailed Louis to let her know that a computer program had rejected her application. She needed to have a score of at least 443 for her application to be accepted. There was no further explanation and no way to appeal the decision.Mary, we regret to inform you that the third party service we utilize to screen all prospective tenants has denied your tenancy, the email read. Unfortunately, the services SafeRent tenancy score was lower than is permissible under our tenancy standards.A tenant suesLouis was left to rent a more expensive apartment. Management there didnt score her algorithmically. But, she learned, her experience with SafeRent wasnt unique. She was one of a class of more than 400 Black and Hispanic tenants in Massachusetts who use housing vouchers and said their rental applications were rejected because of their SafeRent score.In 2022, they came together to sue the company under the Fair Housing Act, claiming SafeRent discriminated against them. Louis and the other named plaintiff, Monica Douglas, alleged the companys algorithm disproportionately scored Black and Hispanic renters who use housing vouchers lower than white applicants. They alleged the software inaccurately weighed irrelevant account information about whether theyd be good tenants credit scores, non-housing related debt but did not factor in that theyd be using a housing voucher. Studies have shown that Black and Hispanic rental applicants are more likely to have lower credit scores and use housing vouchers than white applicants.It was a waste of time waiting to get a decline, Louis said. I knew my credit wasnt good. But the AI doesnt know my behavior it knew I fell behind on paying my credit card but it didnt know I always pay my rent.Two years have passed since the group first sued SafeRent so long that Louis says she has moved on with her life and all but forgotten about the lawsuit, though she was one of only two named plaintiffs. But her actions may still protect other renters who make use of similar housing programs, known as Section 8 vouchers for their place in the US federal legal code, from losing out on housing because of an algorithmically determined score.SafeRent has settled with Louis and Douglas. In addition to making a $2.3m payment, the company has agreed to stop using a scoring system or make any kind of recommendation when it came to prospective tenants who used housing vouchers for five years. Though SafeRent legally admitted no wrongdoing, it is rare for a tech company to accept changes to its core products as part of a settlement; the more common result of such agreements would be a financial agreement.While SafeRent continues to believe the SRS Scores comply with all applicable laws, litigation is time-consuming and expensive, Yazmin Lopez, a spokesperson for the company, said in a statement. It became increasingly clear that defending the SRS Score in this case would divert time and resources SafeRent can better use to serve its core mission of giving housing providers the tools they need to screen applicants.Your new AI landlordTenant-screening systems like SafeRent are often used as a way to avoid engaging directly with applicants and pass the blame for a denial to a computer system, said Todd Kaplan, one of the attorneys representing Louis and the class of plaintiffs who sued the company.The property management company told Louis the software alone decided to reject her, but the SafeRent report indicated it was the management company that set the threshold for how high someone needed to score to have their application accepted.The AI doesnt know my behavior it knew I fell behind on paying my credit card but it didnt know I always pay my rentStill, even for people involved in the application process, the workings of the algorithm are opaque. The property manager who showed Louis the apartment said she couldnt see why Louis would have any problems renting the apartment.Theyre putting in a bunch of information and SafeRent is coming up with their own scoring system, Kaplan said. It makes it harder for people to predict how SafeRent is going to view them. Not just for the tenants who are applying, even the landlords dont know the ins and outs of SafeRent score.As part of Louiss settlement with SafeRent, which was approved on 20 November, the company can no longer use a scoring system or recommend whether to accept or decline a tenant if theyre using a housing voucher. If the company does come up with a new scoring system, it is obligated to have it independently validated by a third-party fair housing organization.Removing the thumbs-up, thumbs-down determination really allows the tenant to say: Im a great tenant, said Kaplan. It makes it a much more individualized determination.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to TechScapeFree weekly newsletterA weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our livesPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionAI spreads to foundational parts of lifeNearly all of the 92 million people who are considered low-income in the US have been exposed to AI decision-making in fundamental parts of life such as employment, housing, medicine, schooling or government assistance, according to a new report about the harms of AI by attorney Kevin de Liban, who represented low-income people as part of the Legal Aid Society. The founder of a new AI justice organization called TechTonic Justice, De Liban first started investigating these systems in 2016 when he was approached by patients with disabilities in Arkansas who suddenly stopped getting as many hours of state-funded in-home care because of automated decision-making that cut human input. In one instance, the states Medicaid dispensation relied on a program that determined a patient did not have any problems with his foot because it had been amputated.This made me realize we shouldnt defer to [AI systems] as a sort of supremely rational way of making decisions, De Liban said. He said these systems make various assumptions based on junk statistical science that produce what he refers to as absurdities.In 2018, after De Liban sued the Arkansas department of human services on behalf of these patients over the departments decision-making process, the state legislature ruled the agency could no longer automate the determination of patients allotments of in-home care. De Libans was an early victory in the fight against the harms caused by algorithmic decision-making, though its use nationwide persists in other arenas such as employment.Few regulations curb AIs proliferation despite flawsLaws limiting the use of AI, especially in making consequential decisions that can affect a persons quality of life, are few, as are avenues of accountability for people harmed by automated decisions.A survey conducted by Consumer Reports, released in July, found that a majority of Americans were uncomfortable about the use of AI and algorithmic decision-making technology around major life moments as it relates to housing, employment, and healthcare. Respondents said they were uneasy not knowing what information AI systems used to assess them.Unlike in Louiss case, people are often not notified when an algorithm is used to make a decision about their lives, making it difficult to appeal or challenge those decisions.The existing laws that we have can be useful, but theyre limited in what they can get you, De Liban said. The market forces dont work when it comes to poor people. All the incentive is in basically producing more bad technology, and theres no incentive for companies to produce low-income people good options.Federal regulators under Joe Biden have made several attempts to catch up with the quickly evolving AI industry. The president issued an executive order that included a framework intended, in part, to address national security and discrimination-related risks in AI systems. However, Donald Trump has made promises to undo that work and slash regulations, including Bidens executive order on AI.That may make lawsuits like Louiss a more important avenue for AI accountability than ever. Already, the lawsuit garnered the interest of the US Department of Justice and Department of Housing and Urban Development both of which handle discriminatory housing policies that affect protected classes.To the extent that this is a landmark case, it has a potential to provide a roadmap for how to look at these cases and encourage other challenges, Kaplan said.Still, keeping these companies accountable in the absence of regulation will be difficult, De Liban said. Lawsuits take time and money, and the companies may find a way to build workarounds or similar products for people not covered by class action lawsuits. You cant bring these types of cases every day, he said.

submitted by /u/ChocolateTsar [link] [comments]

cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Chernobylite launched back in 2019, bringing with it mostly positive reviews and an interesting hook for a 3D survival game laced with a touch of horror it was made using 3D scans of the real-life Chernobyl exclusion zone. This hints at an intriguing attention to detail from the developers, and on more powerful hardware, the effort pays off, providing the game with an immersive atmosphere full of misty lighting and tangibly tragic ruins. But on Switch, the impact of the games most unique feature has, unfortunately, been lost in the visual downgrade.By far the strongest part of Chernobylite for us was its ambitious storytelling. The storyline follows Igor Khymynuk, whose aim to find his wife Tatyana, another scientist, who went missing in the zone is compellingly brought to life as he hallucinates through missions and struggles to put together clues and launch a climactic assault on the Chernobyl facility itself, Tatyanas last-known location.But (and there are a few buts) we have rarely played a game so badly in need of motion aiming. No matter how much we adjusted the settings, including turning on an assist mode, we couldnt find a sweet spot that made the aiming work for us. The consequence on the FPS side of things a significant part of the game was to make it mostly frustrating. We died a lot either aiming off into the grey skies, or slowly turning our sights towards an intended headshot. Or body shot - any kind of shot to keep ourselves alive.It should be stressed that Chernobylite emphasises stealth over direct combat. Youre not meant to get into these firefights if you can avoid them. But being stealthy amounts to ducking and crawling slowly up to every enemy. This gets tiresome, and youll be tempted to fire one of your many guns as an alternative.We died a lot, and dying revealed a dubious design choice. Most of the time we ended up captured (at other times, we ended up in a surreal time warp youll have to play to find out why) with our kit stolen and hidden away somewhere in the same enemy army base every time. Theres a story reason for this, and some very minor variety, but we soon found it repetitive. Sure, you can save scum to avoid it, but the games momentum suffers.Other elements base building, people management got lost in the fallout. Our sallies into the exclusion zone, gathering resources, crafting, and looking for ways to progress the game were initially as addictive as in other survival games, but we soon found this loop grind-heavy. The key elements upgrading kit, unlocking new tiers of things to build are done well enough if you like that flow. For the right person, Chernobylite will still be a very enjoyable time.We liked much of Chernobylite and this is a playable port with a fairly solid frame rate, but too many things held us back from scoring it any higher - the graphical downgrade, the tedious death loop, and most egregiously, the multiple crashes that we experienced throughout. We never lost any progress but almost a dozen crashes in the 15-20 hour runtime are worth noting.

2025 draws near.We're back with a fresh look at our weekend gaming plans in the latest edition of What Are You Playing!Before we dive into things, however, let's recap this past week. Mr. Video Games himself, Geoff Keighley, was gracing our screens once again at The Game Awards, and while it was far from a Switch-fest, we did get a look at a new Sonic Racing title, Hideki Kamiya's Okami sequel and a weird new spin on Pac-Man.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

World models, also known as world simulators, are being touted by some as the next big thing in AI. AI pioneer Fei-Fei Lis World Labs has raised $230 million to build large world models, and DeepMind hired one of the creators of OpenAIs video generator, Sora, to work on world simulators. (Sora was released on Monday; here are some early impressions.) But what the heck are these things?World models take inspiration from the mental models of the world that humans develop naturally. Our brains take the abstract representations from our senses and form them into more concrete understanding of the world around us, producing what we called models long before AI adopted the phrase. The predictions our brains make based on these models influence how we perceive the world.A paper by AI researchers David Ha and Jrgen Schmidhuber gives the example of a baseball batter. Batters have milliseconds to decide how to swing their bat shorter than the time it takes for visual signals to reach the brain. The reason theyre able to hit a 100-mile-per-hour fastball is because they can instinctively predict where the ball will go, Ha and Schmidhuber say.For professional players, this all happens subconsciously, the research duo writes. Their muscles reflexively swing the bat at the right time and location in line with their internal models predictions. They can quickly act on their predictions of the future without the need to consciously roll out possible future scenarios to form a plan.Its these subconscious reasoning aspects of world models that some believe are prerequisites for human-level intelligence.Modeling the worldWhile the concept has been around for decades, world models have gained popularity recently in part because of their promising applications in the field of generative video.Most, if not all, AI-generated videos veer into uncanny valley territory. Watch them long enough and somethingWhile a generative model trained on years of video might accurately predict that a basketball bounces, it doesnt actually have any idea why just like language models dont really understand the concepts behind words and phrases. But a world model with even a basic grasp of why the basketball bounces like it does will be better at showing it do that thing.To enable this kind of insight, world models are trained on a range of data, including photos, audio, videos, and text, with the intent of creating internal representations of how the world works, and the ability to reason about the consequences of actions.A sample from AI startup Runways Gen-3 video generation model. Image Credits:RunwayA viewer expects that the world theyre watching behaves in a similar way to their reality, Alex Mashrabov, Snaps ex-AI chief of AI and the CEO of Higgsfield, which is building generative models for video, said. If a feather drops with the weight of an anvil or a bowling ball shoots up hundreds of feet into the air, its jarring and takes the viewer out of the moment. With a strong world model, instead of a creator defining how each object is expected to move which is tedious, cumbersome, and a poor use of time the model will understand this.But better video generation is only the tip of the iceberg for world models. Researchers including Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun say the models could someday be used for sophisticated forecasting and planning in both the digital and physical realm.In a talk earlier this year, LeCun described how a world model could help achieve a desired goal through reasoning. A model with a base representation of a world (e.g. a video of a dirty room), given an objective (a clean room), could come up with a sequence of actions to achieve that objective (deploy vacuums to sweep, clean the dishes, empty the trash) not because thats a pattern it has observed but because it knows at a deeper level how to go from dirty to clean.We need machines that understand the world; [machines] that can remember things, that have intuition, have common sense things that can reason and plan to the same level as humans, LeCun said. Despite what you might have heard from some of the most enthusiastic people, current AI systems are not capable of any of this.While LeCun estimates that were at least a decade away from the world models he envisions, todays world models are showing promise as elementary physics simulators.Sora controlling a player in Minecraft and rendering the world. Image Credits:OpenAIOpenAI notes in a blog that Sora, which it considers to be a world model, can simulate actions like a painter leaving brush strokes on a canvas. Models like Sora and Sora itself can also effectively simulate video games. For example, Sora can render a Minecraft-like UI and game world.Future world models may be able to generate 3D worlds on demand for gaming, virtual photography, and more, World Labs co-founder Justin Johnson said on an episode of the a16z podcast.We already have the ability to create virtual, interactive worlds, but it costs hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars and a ton of development time, Johnson said. [World models] will let you not just get an image or a clip out, but a fully simulated, vibrant, and interactive 3D world.High hurdlesWhile the concept is enticing, many technical challenges stand in the way.Training and running world models requires massive compute power even compared to the amount currently used by generative models. While some of the latest language models can run on a modern smartphone, Sora (arguably an early world model) would require thousands of GPUs to train and run, especially if their use becomes commonplace.World models, like all AI models, also hallucinate and internalize biases in their training data. A world model trained largely on videos of sunny weather in European cities might struggle to comprehend or depict Korean cities in snowy conditions, for example, or simply do so incorrectly.A general lack of training data threatens to exacerbate these issues, says Mashrabov. We have seen models being really limited with generations of people of a certain type or race, he said. Training data for a world model must be broad enough to cover a diverse set of scenarios, but also highly specific to where the AI can deeply understand the nuances of those scenarios.In a recent post, AI startup Runways CEO, Cristbal Valenzuela, says that data and engineering issues prevent todays models from accurately capturing the behavior of a worlds inhabitants (e.g. humans and animals). Models will need to generate consistent maps of the environment, he said, and the ability to navigate and interact in those environments.A Sora-generated video. Image Credits:OpenAIIf all the major hurdles are overcome, though, Mashrabov believes that world models could more robustly bridge AI with the real world leading to breakthroughs not only in virtual world generation but robotics and AI decision-making.They could also spawn more capable robots. Robots today are limited in what they can do because they dont have an awareness of the world around them (or their own bodies). World models could give them that awareness, Mashrabov said at least to a point.With an advanced world model, an AI could develop a personal understanding of whatever scenario its placed in, he said, and start to reason out possible solutions.TechCrunch has an AI-focused newsletter!Sign up hereto get it in your inbox every Wednesday.