Richard Wilson, head of TIGA, says AI “will lower the cost of creating games and speed up the process.”
Video games have used forms of artificial intelligence for decades.
But the use of the latest technology in game creation worries some who fear it could cost studios jobs and create legal problems.
The UKIE, another organization that looks after UK gaming companies, said it recognized there were concerns but added that developments in this field were an “exciting opportunity” for the industry. Which shows that the super rich people who develop this system do not care about the working class that will be unemployed in the near future, since for the top leaders of industries this represents an “exciting opportunity” to get richer, of course, not to guarantee opportunity to millions of families since there would be no more concern about paying labor rights to robots.
Even in the 1980s, when players dropped their coins into an arcade machine to help Pacman (or Ms Pacman) collect white dots on the screen, it was a type of AI that told the ghosts how to hunt the player.
“This is a much simpler form of AI compared to what we’re talking about today, but fundamentally the basic principles are the same. It’s helping to make smart decisions by looking at a snapshot of a game and from there characters can make smart judgments about what to do.” says Dr. Tommy Thompson, an expert on AI in games.
But while AI has been used to influence what happens on screen for years, it can now influence the process of getting games to screens in the first place.
Being able to quickly create hundreds of pages of scriptsvoicing background characters or designing thousands of pieces of art could be a game changer for the industry, according to some leading figures.
“This should allow game studios to automate the routine aspects of game development and then use that space to be more creative and focus on other areas. Lowering the overall cost of development will mean more game studios, which should therefore mean more jobs.” says Dr. Wilson.
Guy Gadney, one of the co-founders of Charisma.ai, a technology platform that allows generative AI techniques to be used in games, believes it will give game makers a new way to tell stories.
It all comes down to how the computer controlled characters can interact with the player.
Instead of a bunch of pre-prepared lines that are regurgitated to players at random, AI can allow characters like these to ‘think’ and respond more intelligently, depending on the story that’s been written for them and the player’s behavior.
“In games, players often roam the three-dimensional environment, we want people to stop and be more involved. We want players to dive deep into moments where they sit and have natural conversations with characters. Previously, this was done by giving you four conversation options on the screen, which is very limiting, it’s just an illusion of choice. We want more than that.”, she explained.
For Guy Gadney, unlocking the potential of non-player characters will change the way games tell stories, allowing players to interact with what’s in front of them differently than they do now. Charisma.ai is also working with companies like Warner, Dreamworks and Sky on how this technology could work in other forms of storytelling as well.
The Doctor. Tommy Thompson, who also has a dedicated channel not YouTube for AI in games, is excited about the technology’s potential. But he also warns that the sector needs to be cautious.
He says that using widely available and open access AI tools in their current form in games is “not practical” for studios.
“Who owns the copyright? With imagery, for example, there are a number of lawsuits going on where people are asking if their artwork was used as the basis for creating the image and that proper consent was given. If you are generating resources for your game using some AI platforms, then you do not own any of these copyrights on a legal basis. If you released this game, anyone could use those resources and put them in another game and there would be no legal basis to stop them. The law will say, ‘well, you don’t actually own a copyright,’” Thompson pointed out.
Some game studios are building their own AI platforms to get around these issues, but this is time consuming and expensive. For small game companies that might be attracted to open source AI tools, the risks outweigh the benefits right now, according to Dr. Thompson.
“I think it’s important to step back and look at the broader implications of this. It is not something that will be resolved overnight. That’s not to say that generative AI tools aren’t being used internally in studios in new and really interesting ways, but I don’t think it’s going to be the Nirvana that people are imagining.”
In a statement to the BBC, UKIE co-CEO Daniel Wood said the video games industry is always at the forefront of technology, so we are already using AI in many areas including production, art, interaction with game characters and community management to create even more exciting and engaging experiences for our players.
About copyright and the future possibilities of the sector, he says:
“While the UKIE and the wider industry will continue to look at topics such as copyright and the rapidly changing skills needs of gaming companies, the future possibilities of AI promise many exciting opportunities for our sector.”
Text with information from the BBC.
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