The Super Mario Makers: How Machine Learning is Building Super Mario Levels

It's been ten years since the inception of the Mario AI research community, but work in this space is still as engaging and exciting as it's ever been. Today I'm going to look at a variety of research using machine learning to Super Mario level generation since the competition ceased in 2012. I'll be looking at the kinds of levels they're generating, how these algorithms go about building a Mario level and the opportunities that still lie ahead for this research field. It's time to meet the new Super Mario Makers. Before we look at the varying projects and systems in earnest, let's cover some the history of the field and a bit of background knowledge on the changes that have happened in the field in recent years.