To make an artificial player for a simulated world we'd built was part of an assignment in Dr. Robert Harper's 15-212 class when I took it at CMU. On each tick of time, each of them would randomly do one of the things it could do. To see these characters randomly pick up change, put it into vending machines, and get out guns, ammo, and more of themselves, and then collectively gun me down, was a thrilling illustration of an AI control problem. I felt like a god being killed by his creations. Mindchildren?

By the way, in case anyone knows, I would LOVE to track down the origins of this idea. A dozen years later, when I first thought to ask Dr. Harper, he did not remember the source, probably one of his TA's circa Fall 1992.

It probably goes back further than that; one could argue that things like Conway's LIFE implement certain aspects of the idea, as well as military "tabletop" game simulations (which go back a long ways). Other kinds of fantasy RPGs are similar, and then you have older video games on systems in the 1970s that could be considered.

But I think military and other more "physical" simulations likely pre-date all of this; these systems have their own rule systems for the various "pieces" on the "board", and use things like dice and other random number generators to determine how things progress.

There's also probably more than a few fictional stories which set up this idea as well.