Video game support developer Keywords Studios attempted to create a game using only artificial intelligence, but failed because the technology “cannot replace talent.”
As Game Developer reports, Keywords said in its latest financial earnings report that it attempted to create 2D games using only Gen AI using the controversial technology. The process lasted him six months and highlighted “where Gen AI has the potential to enhance the game development process and where it is lagging behind.”
Keywords said the AI tool “identified more than 400 tools and evaluated and leveraged the ones with the most potential,” but “the tool could not replace human resources, and ultimately 7 We utilized bench resources from three different game development studios as part of the project.”
So it turns out that game development cannot exist without real humans, and AI can only be used as another tool in the process. “One of the key learnings is that while Gen AI can simplify or accelerate certain processes, the best results and quality needed are those that leverage Gen AI as a powerful new tool in the creative process. This can only be achieved by experts in the field,” Keyword said. .
The game was not released to the public as it was just a research project, and Keywords did not provide any additional information about what kind of 2D game it created.
The developer is one of the world's largest outsourcing studios and has worked on several high-quality games, including Baldur's Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Alan Wake 2.
Video games have endured a particularly complex relationship with AI. Embark Studios, the developer behind the hit shooter The Finals, has been criticized for using AI narration, even by countless actors and other developers, but Embark told IGN, “The ultimate goal was not to make a game without actors,” he said, claiming that he used AI narration. It's a combination of both recorded audio and audio generated via an AI text-to-speech tool for games.
Video game voice actors have previously slammed Skyrim mods that are blatantly AI-generated, and Assassin's Creed Syndicate voice actor Victoria Atkin has accused AI-generated mods of being AI-generated after discovering her voice was being used in cloning software. He called MOD “the invisible enemy we are currently fighting.” Paul Eiding, the voice actor for Colonel Campbell in the Metal Gear Solid series, also condemned its use.
Doug Cockle, voice actor for The Witcher, also expressed alarm and frustration at the growing presence of AI in the video game industry, calling it “inevitable” but “dangerous.” But ironically, the biggest developer using his AI for voice acting so far is The Witcher studio CD Projekt Red, which has only been able to do so with the permission of the deceased voice actors' families. It was done only to replace it.
Ryan Dinsdale is a freelance reporter for IGN. He will talk about The Witcher all day long.
