Smart Zoi runs 50 AI NPCs in real time with a fine-tuned 1B SLM, LIFT hits 100+ citations

Kangwook_Lee · x · 2026-09-20

Kangwook Lee connects EA's Smart Zoi to the Jev approach: to let 50 AI NPCs make decisions in real time in The Sims, the team fine-tuned a local 1B-parameter SLM as a real-time classifier. He also notes his NeurIPS 2022 LIFT paper — now past 100 citations — is essentially 'Jev plus fine-tuning on your own dataset,' with successful applications in predictive chemistry and metamaterial physics.

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