German researchers are creating a sentient Mario capable of learning, independent thought and self-control.

The team of cognitive modelling researchers at the University of Tübingen in Germany have put together a video showcasing Mario in action titled ‘Mario Lives! An Adaptive Learning AI Approach for Generating a Living and Conversing Mario Agent.’ The video itself shows Mario answering simple questions, performing tasks, and learning based on what he observes.Towards the end of the video, Mario is asked what he knows about Goombas, to which he replies “I do not know anything about it.” Then, Mario is told to kill the enemy on screen, which happens to be a Goomba. Following that Mario says “Okay, I’ll look for an enemy,” before going off on his own – without any outside input– and jumping on the Goomba. Mario is then asked the same question again, only this time his answer is “If I jump on Goomba, then maybe it dies.”What’s happened here is Mario has taken into account different actions. Mario remembers what happens when he jumps on a Gooma, and stores the information. Presumably after he’s a killed several Goombas, the answer changes further. As we see earlier in the video, Mario can also answer the above question with “If I jump on Goomba, it certainly dies.”The project, which has been entered in the People’s Choice Award for the AI Video Competition , aims to let Mario become aware of his surroundings and self-sufficient, allowing him to make choices based on his curiosity, hunger, happiness and fear.“Mario will collect coins if he is hungry,” says the narrator, “whereas when he is curious, he will explore his environment and autonomously gather knowledge about items he does not know much about yet.”Other entries in the AI Video Competition include a swarm of robots , a robot that teaches kids to write , a golf cart capable of driving itself in a crowd, a robot capable of moving debris , and an AI for aging

Wesley Copeland is a freelance news writer, but you probably already guessed that. For more obvious statements, you should probably follow him on Twitter