Xbox says AI augments game developer abilities but “isn’t a silver bullet” for replacing humans. Here’s why.
AI is making its way to gaming to enhance gameplay and give developers ample time to hone their skills, but critical issues abound.
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What you need to know
Generative AIhas undoubtedly reshaped life as we know it across all sectors, includingeducation,medicine, music, computing, and even gaming. Microsoft is among the top tech corporations that have jumped on the AI bandwagon head-first and incorporated it across its tech stack. And it’s now starting to trickle down to gaming.
At the GDC 2024 conference, my colleague Zachary Boddy stated thatAI in gaming dominated the showbut highlighted critical issues. According to Boddy:
“I want to be optimistic, but I must be cautious about it — whatever your economic or political stances, companies shouldn’t be trusted unreservedly because profits will always matter more than people. However, AI does have a lot of potential to create new game experiences that otherwise would be impossible, and can also enhance games during the development process as a tool for developers to use.”
AI in gaming is highly promising, but it’s faced with critical issues
AI is already an essential element of gaming featured across video games. And now,according to Xbox’s General Manager of Gaming AI Haiyan Zhang:
“The field of Artificial Intelligence advanced from rule-based systems to neural network-based systems – and now with generative AI, we see interesting potential to innovate the experience of games.”
Zhang says that as video games become more immersive, generative AI plays a crucial role and could be leveraged to personalize gameplay with deeper conversations, curated play experiences, and more.
The General Manager highlights that game developers are already making significant leaps. For instance, an Indie game dubbed Smoking Gun, developed by ReLU studios in Korea, allows players to interact with in-game characters powered by language models to solve murder cases.
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However, Zhang acknowledges the need for tools to allow developers to explore AI’s potential in gaming. “We need to reduce the barriers to putting AI into games,” added Zhang. We need to figure out the overhead cost of inference—which is still a question for many developers."
Zhang says a starting point for this would be expanding the capabilities of AI applications to meet game developer needs. In the interim,Microsoft has partnered with Inworldto develop advanced tools to help game developers leverage tools like OpenAI’s GPT-4 to in-game NPCs to power conversations.
AtMicrosoft’s Windows and Surface event, the companydemonstrated how Copilot AI can be leveraged to make gaming more enjoyable for players. Players can interact with the tool directly from the game interface and ask questions, and then it can scheme through your Minecraft inventory for the necessary materials.
Microsoft Research is also leveraging the power of AI chatbots to summarize long-form content and reason over the information, making work easier and faster.
AI needs to become tools that augment our abilities, to help us do more. And in turn, even allow us to do new things we couldn’t do before.
Aside from fostering continued gameplay even after players get stuck in a puzzle, AI can support and develop talents by prompting upskilling, training, and sharing best practices.
While it seems highly promising, AI is seemingly turning into a dangerous threat for creative professionals. AI-powered tools likeImage Creator from Designerare impressive and can generate sophisticated structural designs, potentiallyrendering architects and interior designers jobless. However, these tools seeminglyfail at simple tasks like creating a plain white image.
To this end, it seems highly uncertain that AI can take up complex tasks like game development and knock it out of the park.
In aseparate report, a game developer highlighted critical concerns about the use of AI in game development across studios. The developer indicated that AI can develop games, but game studios still need developers to clean up the mess and errors made by the system. “The stuff that AI generates, you become the person whose job is fixing it. It’s not why I got into making games,” the developer concluded.
Kevin Okemwa is a seasoned tech journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya with lots of experience covering the latest trends and developments in the industry at Windows Central. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, he has written for leading publications such as OnMSFT, MakeUseOf, and Windows Report, providing insightful analysis and breaking news on everything revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem. You’ll also catch him occasionally contributing at iMore about Apple and AI. While AFK and not busy following the ever-emerging trends in tech, you can find him exploring the world or listening to music.
