Are bots and AI different?

Without wasting time, let’s just start off by saying – bots and AI, are related. The two things are not the same, but somewhat related. And now, with the rise of AI usage in various fields and industries, some may wonder – are the bots we see in video games, the same as AI?

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How are bots and AI different?

Now, moving along… bots and AI are related. But also kinda different, from one another. For instance, when you hear about ‘bots’ its either you are a gamer who plays first person shooters (and other games with bots). Or someone who has filed a complaint in an automated portal. One which tries to assist you based on a set of preprogrammed replies. But, when we now talk about AI, most think about ‘generative AI‘ which seemingly makes art, and stuff. Here is a little bit of the ‘how’ side of things.

• Bots are usually made to follow a rule-based flow. The things that a bot does are somewhat predetermined, and in games, if that ‘predetermined flow’ is broken a bot can’t learn its way out off it. While (typically speaking) AI tends to learn and adapt to things.
• Typically speaking, bots are made to perform a very specific task. They are pretty-much just automated by the rules they have.
• AI is usually preset to (ideally) make some decisions in its actions, while bots actions (even if they look similar in some cases) are all taken from rules, without reasoning involved. Which works fine, until a glitch happens.
• Needless to say, of the two, AI is more advanced in its potential and application (in any field we apply it to). While bots are a less advanced (yet related) concept.

Conclusion

I would love to hear your comments on this topic. And, as AI advances lets hope it might has some positive contributions that it shall bring into the gaming industry. Because, as a gamer, I am curious to see if we shall ever get some kind of bots + AI hybrid. One that could use all the perks that AI brings, to fix some of the technical bugs and limitations found in rule-based bots.