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9 OPINION Alexiei Dingli Prof Alexiei Dingli is a Professor of AI at the University of Malta and has been conducting research and working in the field of AI for more than two decades, assisting different companies to implement AI solutions. He forms part of the Malta.AI task-force, set up by the Maltese government, aimed at making Malta one of the top AI countries in the world P lay is an essential activi- ty in the development of many young animals. Hu- mans too spend most of their in- itial years playing. A 2020 study commissioned by Mattel Inc. showed that doll play activated regions within the brains associ- ated with social information pro- cessing and empathy. It means that children per- form social skills, over and over again, even when playing on their own. Computer games too help children develop es- sential skills such as reading and writing, since some games have textual instructions or chats. Visual-spatial skills such as distance and space; especial- ly when navigating 3D virtual worlds like Minecraft. Prob- lem-solving which lies at the heart of most video-games and so much more. However, as children grow, many parents discourage their kids from playing games. Games are considered by many as timewasters. Parents see lit- tle or no value in them and are afraid that their children spend more time playing games than studying. Worse than that, parents fear that their children develop some form of gaming addiction and become violent. Gaming can be such a problem that in 2019, the World Health Organisation decided to add Gaming Disorder within the list of behavioural addictions. So should you get worried if your child is playing video games? It depends. Games are much more influential than oth- er mediums. Avatars are cus- tomised to resemble the player, open worlds allow the player to be free, and the various mis- sions offer the player multiple rewards—all of this from the comfort of the living room. So no other medium (being Cine- ma, TV, Books, etc.) can offer such a fulfilling experience. But as anything else, problems arise when a player takes this activity to the extreme. A common side effect of this is that children have trouble paying attention at school, and eventually, their grades drop. us, parents should be vigilant; they should limit the use of video games to specific time windows, and they must ensure that their children get a good dose of other ac- tivities as well (such as sports, dancing, drama, etc.). Should you get worried if your child plays violent games? Once again, it depends on the game. Many games offer similar me- chanics—a character shooting at something else and killing it. What changes typically is the realism of the graphics used. In games like Minecraft, Fortnite or Call of Duty (COD) you can kill other players. But in Mine- craft, characters are made up of blocks, which flash red and disappear in thin air when they die. In Fornite, cartoon char- acters glow white and disin- tegrate into blocks when they get killed. In COD, avatars are realistic and die with splashes of blood coming out of their body. at is why Minecraft has an age restriction of 7, Fortnite 12 and COD 18 years old. ese age restrictions are a good in- dication, and guardians should follow them. But in reality, it all depends on the maturity of the child. Researchers could not find any significant corre- lation between acts of violence (such as mass shootings) and video games. Studies have also shown that most children can distinguish between a character on the screen and themselves. However, if a child is already disturbed or easily influenced, then, of course, video games (like any other media such as movies) will only make the sit- uation worse. Essentially, as long as the child does not exaggerate and plays games adequate for his age, then there shouldn't be any problems. Even the World Health Organi- sation (WHO) is suggesting the use of video games during such turbulent times when social ac- tivities are severely restricted. If games were so bad as some peo- ple portray them, I'm sure the WHO would not recommend them at all! Games can offer a medium through which people can interact with each other in a fun way while observing social distance rules. ey allow for socialisation, character devel- opment and fun. Playing games can also be a way of getting dif- ferent family members together, thus helping them bond even further. But don't fool yourself into thinking that games are just for kids. Many companies are in- vesting in game-based learning methodologies, whereby seri- ous games place employees in particular situations and help them learn. ese could range from scenario testing (such as cooking simulators for chefs) to virtual laboratories (such as the protein puzzle game called Foldit). But games can also have a more powerful effect on hu- mans. Research at the Univer- sity of Malta has shown that a Virtual Reality game can help patients feel less pain with- out taking any medications. It works by distracting the brain so that it focuses on the game rather than on the pain signals which it receives. As you can see, games have both positive and negative ef- fects. Like anything else, it all depends on how and how much you use them. However, as the World Health Organisation rec- ommended, if you follow the guidelines and use games re- sponsibly, they are not only safe but also provide users with end- less hours of social fun. To play or not to play, this is the problem! 15.10.2020 Don't fool yourself into thinking that games are just for kids. Many companies are investing in game- based learning methodologies, whereby serious games place employees in particular situations and help them learn