Future PlayStation games could have AI-powered characters, if this leaked prototype of Aloy is anything to go by | usagoldmines.com

• Leaked footage from inside Sony Interactive Entertainment showed off an AI-powered character
• Horizon’s Aloy was used as the prototype, harnessing OpenAI tech
• This could be an hint at the future use of AI in PlayStation games

Future PlayStation games could have generative AI-powered characters if this leak is anything to go by.

A video posted by X (formerly Twitter) user Oliver Darko shows what appears to be leaked footage of a presentation by Sharwin Raghoebardajal, a director of software engineering at Sony Interactive Entertainment, discussing work on an AI prototype as part of Sony’s PlayStation Studios Advanced Technology Group.

The footage (sadly, it’s not available to embed) showed Raghoebardajal interacting with an AI-powered Aloy from the Horizon series; it would appear this prototype has been created with the help of developer Guerrilla Games.

Raghoebardajal asks this AI Alyo “How are you?”, and after a pause, she responds, complete with accurate facial moments, that she’s ok but is “dealing with a sore throat”. The interaction feels a tad stifled and a little ‘uncanny valley’ but demonstrates generative AI in action.

The conversation then evolves into Raghoebardajal asking about the premise of the Horizon series and – *spoilers for Horizon Zero Dawn* – how Aloy feels about being a clone. She responds it’s a unique feeling.

The Verge got access to the full video and repeated that the prototype uses OpenAI’s Whisper speech-to-text tech, Sony’s own Emotional Voice Synthesis to generate a somewhat realistic voice, and large-language models GPT-4 and Llama 3 to power AI Aloy’s decision-making.

While this is very much a prototype and has some clear obstacles to overcome, like faster responses and less stilted speech, it’s an interesting demonstration of how AI tech could be used in games.

This is just a glimpse of what is possible,” said Raghoebardajal, The Verge reported.

A new horizon for AI in games?

The natural reaction to this tech would be a concern that generative AI could be used to potentially replace voice actors and writers in the gaming industry. While I think that’s a legitimate concern worthy of deeper discussion and scrutiny, from this demo it doesn’t seem like generative AI is anywhere near up to the task of replacing the quality of speech and narrative delivered by human development teams, certainly not for AAA games.

However, much like Horizon Call of the Mountain was used as a high-end showcase for all the features of PSVR 2, there’s scope that the same approach could be used to create a spin-out game or virtual experience using AI and the Horizon setting.

I could imagine a short-form experience where you visit a handful of small hubs across both Horizon games and interact with their inhabitants, who use generative AI tech to answer questions and serve up observations.

Equally, given the extensive lore in the Horizon universe, I could see an AI-powered Aloy being used as some form of in-game or app-based companion to serve up information about certain parts of the world or how to tackle some of the robotic enemies.

I know from my experience taking on some of the larger dinosaur-like machines in Horizon Forbidden West I could’ve done with someone or something directing me on what to target instead of me speedily scanning for vulnerable parts while desperately avoiding unnervingly accurate, health bar-deleting attacks.

Of course, Sony appears to be very much at the experimental stage here, and I doubt we’ll see a deluge of AI in PS5 games anytime soon. But I’d also be surprised if AI wasn’t used in PlayStation games further down the line, say when the PS6 arrives.

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