One of the most-debated aspects of the ever-evolving world of technology has been the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, which has been propelled to the fore by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Speculation is rife as to the potential implications of AI on the future of video games, and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has opined that AI could potentially open up new possibilities for gaming to reach new heights.
“The meshing of AI and gaming has been a persistent trend, and the potential that AI holds grows with each passing day,” Spencer declared in an exchange with XboxOn.
Microsoft’s recently-inked partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, for a reported $10 billion, has certainly put Spencer in an interesting position. As somebody with a vested interest in the advancement of AI, he declared that the technology has been integral to video-games since the days of Pong, and will remain so in the future.
“Absolutely, [AI] will have a part to play in the realm of video games,” he proclaimed, exuding enthusiasm. “It has already been a factor, and I’m enthused by the work our team is doing. They have a wider scope of possibilities, ranging from simulated physics, 3D rendering, to sound engineering. I’ve observed that when you offer our creators new methods to experiment with, it takes a few years for them to get into their groove and understand how everything fits together.”
He exclaimed: “Our creators are now investing a copious amount of energy with our AI experts speculating about how this can be a supplementary, beneficial power in the games that we are designing.”
Some pundits have voiced concerns about the implications of AI on the gaming industry, citing potential damaging repercussions for vocality and other vocations.
Before this, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella declared every Microsoft product–including Xbox–would leverage AI advancements, so it’s no shock to hear Spencer share enthusiasm for the potential of AI in gaming.
Peering into the enormous gaming milieu, Electronic Arts — the publisher of the Battlefield franchise — has been actively engaged in developing AI technology for years. In 2018, the tech behemoth unveiled Project Atlas, a gargantuan R&D endeavour which deploys artificial intelligence (AI) and neural networks to completely revolutionize the way games are crafted. This technology has already been applied to the Battlefield series, and it is sophisticated enough to play the game as well as complete the objectives.
Recently, Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, intimated that artificial intelligence (AI) may be utilized in the production of video games, but cautioned that it is not a silver bullet for creating a legitimate competitor to the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
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