It had to happen at some point, and now an AI powered avatar is being tested within the Second Life virtual world by its creators, researchers at the Rensselaer Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning Laboratory. According to reports, Edd Hifeng has a mental age of about 4 years and is capable of only basic AI reasoning. As such he can engage in simple conversations such as where are you from, but only if the question is put in English and even then only if it has previously been translated into a mathematical logic so that Edd understands it. Not exactly cutting edge of AI is it?

Indeed, the cutting edge argument falters even more when you learn that Edd is not even free to roam the massive Second Life landscape, interacting with other avatars in a truly free way. Instead, he is restricted to going where the boffins send him, and that’s that.

Which rather dampens the comments by Edd’s creators that this could be the forerunner of avatars which will be able to interact within 3D virtual world simulations of city streets or underground railway stations and be used to train emergency service workers. Get a grip on reality here, the truth is that this kind of avatar AI is in the earliest possible of moments in time. Once a synthetic avatar, if that is not too much of an oxymoron, can be let loose to roam at will and interact as just another resident of the virtual world. Then, and only then, will I start to get excited about all this. I cannot see Edd, or any other Second Life avatar for that matter, cracking the Turing Test any time soon…