The machines have taught themselves to make Mario levels

Using a modern AI technique called Generative Adversarial Networks, a group of researchers devised a way to create new Mario levels by analyzing an actual one. They then figured out how to search the results for certain characteristics, such as difficulty. The research shows how AI could create games that automatically adapt to the player's skill level, or at the very least provide inspiration to human game designers. Computer-generated levels have been a part of video games for decades, and academics have even competed in years past to make the best Mario level generation algorithms. But in most of those cases, a programmer still had to set up all the parameters in which the computer could do its work.