AI has begun entering many spaces with notable, but controversial, integration in text and art based works. Microsoft is one of the tech giants pursuing AI, like with changes to their Bing search engine.

However, there has also been more work towards putting AI into video gaming related software – such as creating levels in Super Mario Bros.

Now Microsoft has reportedly (via Semafor) created an internal demo of an AI that can actually play Minecraft. So far it has only been tested internally and not available to the public.

This demo is the latest in their attempts in trying to create an AI which can play the video game. They were first reported to be attempting this tech demo back in May of 2022.

While the underlying technology is unknown as of this time from Microsoft, attempts for teaching AI how to play video games has been a point of major research as of late.

A research paper by OpenAI discussed the training done by using thousands of hours of footage of Minecraft gameplay. The result is the AI is able to play Minecraft competently enough to be able to eventually craft a diamond pickaxe.

This complex task, for those who have somehow not played the game yet, requires building up the tools required to mine the necessary materials, as well as find the materials in randomly generated worlds.

AI is still in the early stages of its life cycle, though. So there’s still a lot of work which needs to be done before it can be expected to match or even surpass what a human can do.

Until then, these projects in training models are both important as well as intriguing for those interested in the subject.

This is Niche Gamer Tech. In this column, we regularly cover tech and things related to the tech industry.