Wait wait wait wait. Seeing your post about which ygoDL characters are AI got me thinking. Who, how, and why was the Duel Links created (in universe explanation)?
NOT EVEN KIDDING. Who created Duel Links? The actual canon in-universe explanation for the game is that it's specifically rooted in the manga version of the DM universe; it's a virtual world to play Duel Monsters in, produced by KaibaCorp, crafted and forged in the fire by Seto "I Have Issues Problems" Kaiba himself!!! There's actually a whole little DSOD prequel manga story called Transcend Game, which iirc goes into Kaiba's development of the project pretty heavily! (I haven't had a chance to read it yet myself so DMheads correct me if anything's off)
Why's he doing this? Well. A.) you know Kaiba's always on his little ego projects trying to pursue the Next Evolution of Dueling, B.) He can't let go of his rivalry with Atem and will raise him from the dead in digital form if he has to (and he has), and C.), ah. erm. <:)
ok seto very cool!!! (this is also literally a voice line he sometimes yells at game startup. unwell man)
How's he doing it? MONEY. PRESUMABLY. Same way he's made any of his other virtual world KaibaCorp madness products. How's he getting a hold of virtual copies of people's memories, enough to make a realistic AI clone of them thats unaware of its own nature? How's Duel Links doing this for characters from dimensions Kaiba's never even stepped foot in, that KAIBACORP doesn't even exist in? We..... don't know yet <:) That's part of the psychologically terrifying fun!
tl;dr kaiba made duel links, he wanted to make an AI copy of atem because he can't process his grief like a normal person, he's raised the dead digitally and got a bit of a god complex about it, and now the whole ego project has spiraled out of control and grown into a bit of an entity all its own, leaving denizens from the spinoff dimensions to try and figure out What the Hell's Going On. Duel Links!
