AI Revolutionizes Video Game Development: From NPCs to Immersive Environments

Soon, Users Can Generate Detailed Game Environments with Simple Text Prompts

After Open AI's o1 launched its new update, a lot of its users took to the internet to share their creative experience with respect to game building on the platform. Recently, Electronic Arts (EA) introduced 'Imagination to Creation,' an AI based platform that allows players to create game elements using simple text prompts, without needing any coding knowledge. By leveraging EA's vast proprietary datasets, users were able to generate complex worlds, characters, and gameplay mechanics in real-time. Generative AI tools are significantly improving game development. An Indian AI startup, 3DAiLY for example, reinvented how 3D models are made for both indie and AAA games, high budget games developed by major studios. Open AI's o1 and Claude 3.5 Sonnet has also become a go-to tool and platform for developing games today. In addition, AI game engines like Unity and Unreal are making it easier to design complex environments and characters. These engines incorporate AI for procedural generation, meaning that vast, open-world games can be built with lesser manual input. AI tools also assist with NPC behaviour, creating more lifelike interactions and pathfinding, which improves immersion. For instance, Unreal's AI based systems allow characters to make decisions in real time, adapting to the player's actions without needing pre-programmed responses. This adaptability provides a more dynamic gameplay, blurring the lines between scripted and emergent behaviour. Character Arcs to Game Play! LLM models can also now help create and solve codes for building games. One can use these models to generate codes to create and develop games. These AI models can fine tune difficulty levels, enemy strength, and reward systems, ensuring a fair and engaging experience for players. Beyond coding, AI, especially LLM models and GenAI can be used to generate unique character profiles, including names, attributes and backstories adding depth and personality to one's game characters. It can assist in designing levels by suggesting layouts, weapons, clothing and basic designing of the character, ensuring a balanced and engaging gameplay experience. Moreover, the ability to generate dialogue based on character personalities and context opens up space for more natural and immersive interactions for the user. Some of these AI models also have mathematical prowess and are invaluable for game balancing and AI development. By solving complex problems related to difficulty levels, enemy strength and reward systems, Open AI's o1 ensures a fair and challenging gameplay experience. Also, its ability to create intelligent AI opponents by reasoning about game states, predicting player actions and choosing optimal moves enhances the overall gameplay experience. AI Use Cases in Game Building After o1 launched its new update, a lot of its users took to the internet to share their creative experience with respect to game building on the platform. Karina Nguyen, a user made an AISteroid game with retro sci/fi vibe and shared the results on X. It offered a 90's mobile phone games vibe. Another user named Subham Saboo created a space shooter game which he then ran on Reptile, showing impressive results. He then claimed o1 has changed coding and AI forever. Open AI's o1 generated the code for Saboo's game and fine tuned it, ready to be run and processed into a game. The concept video for 'Imagination to Creation' showed how, through simple text prompts, users were able to generate detailed game environments, characters and mechanics in real time. The game demonstrates how AI can bring a user's vision to life, eliminating the need for technical or coding skills. This approach exemplifies EA's push towards making game development more accessible and customisable, empowering players to craft their own unique gaming experiences. Innovation, Imagination and Game Creation! Game development has become more accessible with the advent of AI, allowing users to design, code and personalise their own games through tools like GenAI. Users can combine and use innovation to their advantage in their journey of bringing their imaginative vision to reality and create their own virtual gaming world with their own unique stories. The 2024 State of the Game Industry report by the Game Developers Conference (GDC) highlights that nearly half of game developers (49%) are incorporating generative AI tools in their workflows, with indie developers showing a higher rate of adoption compared to larger studios. Specifically, 37% of indie developers are using AI tools, which contrasts with 21% of AAA and AA studio developers who reported using these technologies.

How this studio is using AI to make video games more immersive

For decades, video games have relied on scripted, stilted interactions with non-player characters to help shepherd gamers in their journeys. But as artificial intelligence technology improves, game studios are experimenting with generative AI to help build environments, assist game writers in crafting NPC dialogue and lend video games the improvisational spontaneity once reserved for table-top role-playing games. In the multiplayer game "Retail Mage," players help run a magical furniture store and assist customers in hopes of earning a five-star review. As a salesperson -- and wizard -- they can pick up and examine items or tell the system what they'd like to do with a product, such as deconstruct chairs for parts or tear a page from a book to write a note to a shopper. A player's interactions with the shop and NPCs around them -- from gameplay mechanics to content and dialogue creation -- are fueled by AI rather than a predetermined script to create more options for chatting and using objects in the shop. "We believe generative AI can unlock a new kind of gameplay where the world is more responsive and more able to meet players at their creativity and the things that they come up with and the stories they want to tell inside a fantasy setting that we create for them," said Michael Yichao, cofounder of Jam & Tea Studios, which created "Retail Mage." The typical NPC experience often leaves something to be desired. Pre-scripted interactions with someone meant to pass along a quest typically come with a handful of chatting options that lead to the same conclusion: players get the information they need and continue on. Game developers and AI companies say that by using generative AI tech, they aim to create a richer experience that allows for more nuanced relationships with the people and worlds that designers build. Generative AI could also provide more opportunities for players to go off-script and create their own stories if designers can craft environments that feel more alive and can react to players' choices in real-time. Tech companies continue to develop AI for games, even as developers debate how, and whether, they'll use AI in their products. Nvidia created its ACE technologies to bring so-called "digital humans" to life with generative AI. Inworld AI provides developers with a platform for generative NPC behavior and dialogue. Gaming company Ubisoft said last year that it uses Ghostwriter, an in-house AI tool, to help write some NPC dialogue without replacing the video game writer. A report released by the Game Developers Conference in January found that nearly half of developers surveyed said generative AI tools are currently being used in their workplace, with 31% saying they personally use those tools. Developers at indie studios were most likely to use generative AI, with 37% reporting use the tech. Still, roughly four out of five developers said they worry about the ethical use of AI. Carl Kwoh, Jam & Tea's CEO, said AI should be used responsibly alongside creators to elevate stories -- not to replace them. "That's always been the goal: How can we use this tool to create an experience that makes players more connected to each other?" said Kwoh, who is also one of the company's founders. "They can tell stories that they couldn't tell before." Using AI to provide NPCs with endless things to say is "definitely a perk," Yichao said, but "content without meaning is just endless noise." That's why Jam & Tea uses AI -- through Google's Gemma 2 and their own servers in Amazon -- to give NPCs the ability to do more than respond, he said. They can look for objects as they're shopping or respond to other NPCs to add "more life and reactivity than a typically scripted encounter." "I've watched players turn our shopping experience into a bit of a dating sim as they flirt with customers and then NPCs come up with very realistic responses," he said. "It's been really fun to see the game react dynamically to what players bring to the table." Demonstrating a conversation with a NPC in the game "Mecha BREAK," in which players battle war machines, Ike Nnole said that Nvidia has made its AI "humans" respond faster than they previously could by using small language models. Using Nvidia's AI, players can interact with the mechanic, Martel, by asking her to do things like customize the color of a mech machine. "Typically, a gamer would go through menus to do all this," Nnole, a senior product marketing manager at Nvidia said. "Now it could be a much more interactive, much quicker experience." Artificial Agency, a Canadian AI company, built an engine that allows developers to bring AI into any part of their game -- not only NPCs, but also companions and "overseer agents" that can steer a player towards content they're missing. The AI can also create tutorials to teach players a skill that they are missing so they can have more fun in-game, the company said. "One way we like to put it is putting a game designer on the shoulder of everyone as they're playing the game," said Alex Kearney, cofounder of Artificial Agency. The company's AI engine can be integrated at any stage of the game development cycle, she said. Brian Tanner, Artificial Agency's CEO, said scripting every possible outcome of a game can be tedious and difficult to test. Their system allows designers to act more like directors, he said, by telling characters more about their motivation and background. "These characters can improvise on the spot depending on what's actually happening in the game," Tanner said. It's easy to run into a game's guardrails, Tanner said, where NPCs keep repeating the same phrase regardless of how players interact with them. But as AI continues to evolve, that will change, he added. "It is truly going to feel like the world's alive and like everything really reacts to exactly what's happening," he said. "That's going to add tremendous realism."

Can AI make video games more immersive? Some studios turn to AI-fueled NPCs for more interaction

For decades, video games have relied on scripted, stilted interactions with non-player characters to help shepherd gamers in their journeys LOS ANGELES -- For decades, video games have relied on scripted, stilted interactions with non-player characters to help shepherd gamers in their journeys. But as artificial intelligence technology improves, game studios are experimenting with generative AI to help build environments, assist game writers in crafting NPC dialogue and lend video games the improvisational spontaneity once reserved for table-top role-playing games. In the multiplayer game "Retail Mage," players help run a magical furniture store and assist customers in hopes of earning a five-star review. As a salesperson -- and wizard -- they can pick up and examine items or tell the system what they'd like to do with a product, such as deconstruct chairs for parts or tear a page from a book to write a note to a shopper. A player's interactions with the shop and NPCs around them -- from gameplay mechanics to content and dialogue creation -- are fueled by AI rather than a predetermined script to create more options for chatting and using objects in the shop. "We believe generative AI can unlock a new kind of gameplay where the world is more responsive and more able to meet players at their creativity and the things that they come up with and the stories they want to tell inside a fantasy setting that we create for them," said Michael Yichao, cofounder of Jam & Tea Studios, which created "Retail Mage." The typical NPC experience often leaves something to be desired. Pre-scripted interactions with someone meant to pass along a quest typically come with a handful of chatting options that lead to the same conclusion: players get the information they need and continue on. Game developers and AI companies say that by using generative AI tech, they aim to create a richer experience that allows for more nuanced relationships with the people and worlds that designers build. Generative AI could also provide more opportunities for players to go off-script and create their own stories if designers can craft environments that feel more alive and can react to players' choices in real-time. Tech companies continue to develop AI for games, even as developers debate how, and whether, they'll use AI in their products. Nvidia created its ACE technologies to bring so-called "digital humans" to life with generative AI. Inworld AI provides developers with a platform for generative NPC behavior and dialogue. Gaming company Ubisoft said last year that it uses Ghostwriter, an in-house AI tool, to help write some NPC dialogue without replacing the video game writer. A report released by the Game Developers Conference in January found that nearly half of developers surveyed said generative AI tools are currently being used in their workplace, with 31% saying they personally use those tools. Developers at indie studios were most likely to use generative AI, with 37% reporting use the tech. Still, roughly four out of five developers said they worry about the ethical use of AI. Carl Kwoh, Jam & Tea's CEO, said AI should be used responsibly alongside creators to elevate stories -- not to replace them. "That's always been the goal: How can we use this tool to create an experience that makes players more connected to each other?" said Kwoh, who is also one of the company's founders. "They can tell stories that they couldn't tell before." Using AI to provide NPCs with endless things to say is "definitely a perk," Yichao said, but "content without meaning is just endless noise." That's why Jam & Tea uses AI -- through Google's Gemma 2 and their own servers in Amazon -- to give NPCs the ability to do more than respond, he said. They can look for objects as they're shopping or respond to other NPCs to add "more life and reactivity than a typically scripted encounter." "I've watched players turn our shopping experience into a bit of a dating sim as they flirt with customers and then NPCs come up with very realistic responses," he said. "It's been really fun to see the game react dynamically to what players bring to the table." Demonstrating a conversation with a NPC in the game "Mecha BREAK," in which players battle war machines, Ike Nnole said that Nvidia has made its AI "humans" respond faster than they previously could by using small language models. Using Nvidia's AI, players can interact with the mechanic, Martel, by asking her to do things like customize the color of a mech machine. "Typically, a gamer would go through menus to do all this," Nnole, a senior product marketing manager at Nvidia said. "Now it could be a much more interactive, much quicker experience." Artificial Agency, a Canadian AI company, built an engine that allows developers to bring AI into any part of their game -- not only NPCs, but also companions and "overseer agents" that can steer a player towards content they're missing. The AI can also create tutorials to teach players a skill that they are missing so they can have more fun in-game, the company said. "One way we like to put it is putting a game designer on the shoulder of everyone as they're playing the game," said Alex Kearney, cofounder of Artificial Agency. The company's AI engine can be integrated at any stage of the game development cycle, she said. Brian Tanner, Artificial Agency's CEO, said scripting every possible outcome of a game can be tedious and difficult to test. Their system allows designers to act more like directors, he said, by telling characters more about their motivation and background. "These characters can improvise on the spot depending on what's actually happening in the game," Tanner said. It's easy to run into a game's guardrails, Tanner said, where NPCs keep repeating the same phrase regardless of how players interact with them. But as AI continues to evolve, that will change, he added. "It is truly going to feel like the world's alive and like everything really reacts to exactly what's happening," he said. "That's going to add tremendous realism."

Can AI make video games more immersive? Some studios turn to AI-fueled NPCs for more interaction

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For decades, video games have relied on scripted, stilted interactions with non-player characters to help shepherd gamers in their journeys. But as artificial intelligence technology improves, game studios are experimenting with generative AI to help build environments, assist game writers in crafting NPC dialogue and lend video games the improvisational spontaneity once reserved for table-top role-playing games. In the multiplayer game "Retail Mage," players help run a magical furniture store and assist customers in hopes of earning a five-star review. As a salesperson -- and wizard -- they can pick up and examine items or tell the system what they'd like to do with a product, such as deconstruct chairs for parts or tear a page from a book to write a note to a shopper. A player's interactions with the shop and NPCs around them -- from gameplay mechanics to content and dialogue creation -- are fueled by AI rather than a predetermined script to create more options for chatting and using objects in the shop. "We believe generative AI can unlock a new kind of gameplay where the world is more responsive and more able to meet players at their creativity and the things that they come up with and the stories they want to tell inside a fantasy setting that we create for them," said Michael Yichao, cofounder of Jam & Tea Studios, which created "Retail Mage." The typical NPC experience often leaves something to be desired. Pre-scripted interactions with someone meant to pass along a quest typically come with a handful of chatting options that lead to the same conclusion: players get the information they need and continue on. Game developers and AI companies say that by using generative AI tech, they aim to create a richer experience that allows for more nuanced relationships with the people and worlds that designers build. Generative AI could also provide more opportunities for players to go off-script and create their own stories if designers can craft environments that feel more alive and can react to players' choices in real-time. Tech companies continue to develop AI for games, even as developers debate how, and whether, they'll use AI in their products. Nvidia created its ACE technologies to bring so-called "digital humans" to life with generative AI. Inworld AI provides developers with a platform for generative NPC behavior and dialogue. Gaming company Ubisoft said last year that it uses Ghostwriter, an in-house AI tool, to help write some NPC dialogue without replacing the video game writer. A report released by the Game Developers Conference in January found that nearly half of developers surveyed said generative AI tools are currently being used in their workplace, with 31% saying they personally use those tools. Developers at indie studios were most likely to use generative AI, with 37% reporting use the tech. Still, roughly four out of five developers said they worry about the ethical use of AI. Carl Kwoh, Jam & Tea's CEO, said AI should be used responsibly alongside creators to elevate stories -- not to replace them. "That's always been the goal: How can we use this tool to create an experience that makes players more connected to each other?" said Kwoh, who is also one of the company's founders. "They can tell stories that they couldn't tell before." Using AI to provide NPCs with endless things to say is "definitely a perk," Yichao said, but "content without meaning is just endless noise." That's why Jam & Tea uses AI -- through Google's Gemma 2 and their own servers in Amazon -- to give NPCs the ability to do more than respond, he said. They can look for objects as they're shopping or respond to other NPCs to add "more life and reactivity than a typically scripted encounter." "I've watched players turn our shopping experience into a bit of a dating sim as they flirt with customers and then NPCs come up with very realistic responses," he said. "It's been really fun to see the game react dynamically to what players bring to the table." Demonstrating a conversation with a NPC in the game "Mecha BREAK," in which players battle war machines, Ike Nnole said that Nvidia has made its AI "humans" respond faster than they previously could by using small language models. Using Nvidia's AI, players can interact with the mechanic, Martel, by asking her to do things like customize the color of a mech machine. "Typically, a gamer would go through menus to do all this," Nnole, a senior product marketing manager at Nvidia said. "Now it could be a much more interactive, much quicker experience." Artificial Agency, a Canadian AI company, built an engine that allows developers to bring AI into any part of their game -- not only NPCs, but also companions and "overseer agents" that can steer a player towards content they're missing. The AI can also create tutorials to teach players a skill that they are missing so they can have more fun in-game, the company said. "One way we like to put it is putting a game designer on the shoulder of everyone as they're playing the game," said Alex Kearney, cofounder of Artificial Agency. The company's AI engine can be integrated at any stage of the game development cycle, she said. Brian Tanner, Artificial Agency's CEO, said scripting every possible outcome of a game can be tedious and difficult to test. Their system allows designers to act more like directors, he said, by telling characters more about their motivation and background. "These characters can improvise on the spot depending on what's actually happening in the game," Tanner said. It's easy to run into a game's guardrails, Tanner said, where NPCs keep repeating the same phrase regardless of how players interact with them. But as AI continues to evolve, that will change, he added. "It is truly going to feel like the world's alive and like everything really reacts to exactly what's happening," he said. "That's going to add tremendous realism."

Video game studios are powering up NPCs with AI to make interactions more like actual conversations

For decades, video games have relied on scripted, stilted interactions with non-player characters to help shepherd gamers in their journeys. But as artificial intelligence technology improves, game studios are experimenting with generative AI to help build environments, assist game writers in crafting NPC dialogue and lend video games the improvisational spontaneity once reserved for table-top role-playing games. In the multiplayer game "Retail Mage," players help run a magical furniture store and assist customers in hopes of earning a five-star review. As a salesperson -- and wizard -- they can pick up and examine items or tell the system what they'd like to do with a product, such as deconstruct chairs for parts or tear a page from a book to write a note to a shopper. A player's interactions with the shop and NPCs around them -- from gameplay mechanics to content and dialogue creation -- are fueled by AI rather than a predetermined script to create more options for chatting and using objects in the shop. "We believe generative AI can unlock a new kind of gameplay where the world is more responsive and more able to meet players at their creativity and the things that they come up with and the stories they want to tell inside a fantasy setting that we create for them," said Michael Yichao, cofounder of Jam & Tea Studios, which created "Retail Mage." The typical NPC experience often leaves something to be desired. Pre-scripted interactions with someone meant to pass along a quest typically come with a handful of chatting options that lead to the same conclusion: players get the information they need and continue on. Game developers and AI companies say that by using generative AI tech, they aim to create a richer experience that allows for more nuanced relationships with the people and worlds that designers build. Generative AI could also provide more opportunities for players to go off-script and create their own stories if designers can craft environments that feel more alive and can react to players' choices in real-time. Tech companies continue to develop AI for games, even as developers debate how, and whether, they'll use AI in their products. Nvidia created its ACE technologies to bring so-called "digital humans" to life with generative AI. Inworld AI provides developers with a platform for generative NPC behavior and dialogue. Gaming company Ubisoft said last year that it uses Ghostwriter, an in-house AI tool, to help write some NPC dialogue without replacing the video game writer. A report released by the Game Developers Conference in January found that nearly half of developers surveyed said generative AI tools are currently being used in their workplace, with 31% saying they personally use those tools. Developers at indie studios were most likely to use generative AI, with 37% reporting use the tech. Still, roughly four out of five developers said they worry about the ethical use of AI. Carl Kwoh, Jam & Tea's CEO, said AI should be used responsibly alongside creators to elevate stories -- not to replace them. "That's always been the goal: How can we use this tool to create an experience that makes players more connected to each other?" said Kwoh, who is also one of the company's founders. "They can tell stories that they couldn't tell before." Using AI to provide NPCs with endless things to say is "definitely a perk," Yichao said, but "content without meaning is just endless noise." That's why Jam & Tea uses AI -- through Google's Gemma 2 and their own servers in Amazon -- to give NPCs the ability to do more than respond, he said. They can look for objects as they're shopping or respond to other NPCs to add "more life and reactivity than a typically scripted encounter." "I've watched players turn our shopping experience into a bit of a dating sim as they flirt with customers and then NPCs come up with very realistic responses," he said. "It's been really fun to see the game react dynamically to what players bring to the table." Demonstrating a conversation with a NPC in the game "Mecha BREAK," in which players battle war machines, Ike Nnole said that Nvidia has made its AI "humans" respond faster than they previously could by using small language models. Using Nvidia's AI, players can interact with the mechanic, Martel, by asking her to do things like customize the color of a mech machine. "Typically, a gamer would go through menus to do all this," Nnole, a senior product marketing manager at Nvidia said. "Now it could be a much more interactive, much quicker experience." Artificial Agency, a Canadian AI company, built an engine that allows developers to bring AI into any part of their game -- not only NPCs, but also companions and "overseer agents" that can steer a player towards content they're missing. The AI can also create tutorials to teach players a skill that they are missing so they can have more fun in-game, the company said. "One way we like to put it is putting a game designer on the shoulder of everyone as they're playing the game," said Alex Kearney, cofounder of Artificial Agency. The company's AI engine can be integrated at any stage of the game development cycle, she said. Brian Tanner, Artificial Agency's CEO, said scripting every possible outcome of a game can be tedious and difficult to test. Their system allows designers to act more like directors, he said, by telling characters more about their motivation and background. "These characters can improvise on the spot depending on what's actually happening in the game," Tanner said. It's easy to run into a game's guardrails, Tanner said, where NPCs keep repeating the same phrase regardless of how players interact with them. But as AI continues to evolve, that will change, he added. "It is truly going to feel like the world's alive and like everything really reacts to exactly what's happening," he said. "That's going to add tremendous realism."

Can AI make video games more immersive? Some studios turn to AI-fueled NPCs for more interaction

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For decades, video games have relied on scripted, stilted interactions with non-player characters to help shepherd gamers in their journeys. But as artificial intelligence technology improves, game studios are experimenting with generative AI to help build environments, assist game writers in crafting NPC dialogue and lend video games the improvisational spontaneity once reserved for table-top role-playing games. In the multiplayer game "Retail Mage," players help run a magical furniture store and assist customers in hopes of earning a five-star review. As a salesperson -- and wizard -- they can pick up and examine items or tell the system what they'd like to do with a product, such as deconstruct chairs for parts or tear a page from a book to write a note to a shopper. A player's interactions with the shop and NPCs around them -- from gameplay mechanics to content and dialogue creation -- are fueled by AI rather than a predetermined script to create more options for chatting and using objects in the shop. "We believe generative AI can unlock a new kind of gameplay where the world is more responsive and more able to meet players at their creativity and the things that they come up with and the stories they want to tell inside a fantasy setting that we create for them," said Michael Yichao, cofounder of Jam & Tea Studios, which created "Retail Mage." The typical NPC experience often leaves something to be desired. Pre-scripted interactions with someone meant to pass along a quest typically come with a handful of chatting options that lead to the same conclusion: players get the information they need and continue on. Game developers and AI companies say that by using generative AI tech, they aim to create a richer experience that allows for more nuanced relationships with the people and worlds that designers build. Generative AI could also provide more opportunities for players to go off-script and create their own stories if designers can craft environments that feel more alive and can react to players' choices in real-time. Tech companies continue to develop AI for games, even as developers debate how, and whether, they'll use AI in their products. Nvidia created its ACE technologies to bring so-called "digital humans" to life with generative AI. Inworld AI provides developers with a platform for generative NPC behavior and dialogue. Gaming company Ubisoft said last year that it uses Ghostwriter, an in-house AI tool, to help write some NPC dialogue without replacing the video game writer. A report released by the Game Developers Conference in January found that nearly half of developers surveyed said generative AI tools are currently being used in their workplace, with 31% saying they personally use those tools. Developers at indie studios were most likely to use generative AI, with 37% reporting use the tech. Still, roughly four out of five developers said they worry about the ethical use of AI. Carl Kwoh, Jam & Tea's CEO, said AI should be used responsibly alongside creators to elevate stories -- not to replace them. "That's always been the goal: How can we use this tool to create an experience that makes players more connected to each other?" said Kwoh, who is also one of the company's founders. "They can tell stories that they couldn't tell before." Using AI to provide NPCs with endless things to say is "definitely a perk," Yichao said, but "content without meaning is just endless noise." That's why Jam & Tea uses AI -- through Google's Gemma 2 and their own servers in Amazon -- to give NPCs the ability to do more than respond, he said. They can look for objects as they're shopping or respond to other NPCs to add "more life and reactivity than a typically scripted encounter." "I've watched players turn our shopping experience into a bit of a dating sim as they flirt with customers and then NPCs come up with very realistic responses," he said. "It's been really fun to see the game react dynamically to what players bring to the table." Demonstrating a conversation with a NPC in the game "Mecha BREAK," in which players battle war machines, Ike Nnole said that Nvidia has made its AI "humans" respond faster than they previously could by using small language models. Using Nvidia's AI, players can interact with the mechanic, Martel, by asking her to do things like customize the color of a mech machine. "Typically, a gamer would go through menus to do all this," Nnole, a senior product marketing manager at Nvidia said. "Now it could be a much more interactive, much quicker experience." Artificial Agency, a Canadian AI company, built an engine that allows developers to bring AI into any part of their game -- not only NPCs, but also companions and "overseer agents" that can steer a player towards content they're missing. The AI can also create tutorials to teach players a skill that they are missing so they can have more fun in-game, the company said. "One way we like to put it is putting a game designer on the shoulder of everyone as they're playing the game," said Alex Kearney, cofounder of Artificial Agency. The company's AI engine can be integrated at any stage of the game development cycle, she said. Brian Tanner, Artificial Agency's CEO, said scripting every possible outcome of a game can be tedious and difficult to test. Their system allows designers to act more like directors, he said, by telling characters more about their motivation and background. "These characters can improvise on the spot depending on what's actually happening in the game," Tanner said. It's easy to run into a game's guardrails, Tanner said, where NPCs keep repeating the same phrase regardless of how players interact with them. But as AI continues to evolve, that will change, he added. "It is truly going to feel like the world's alive and like everything really reacts to exactly what's happening," he said. "That's going to add tremendous realism."

Can AI make video games more immersive?

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For decades, video games have relied on scripted, stilted interactions with non-player characters to help shepherd gamers in their journeys. But as artificial intelligence technology improves, game studios are experimenting with generative AI to help build environments, assist game writers in crafting NPC dialogue and lend video games the improvisational spontaneity once reserved for table-top role-playing games. In the multiplayer game "Retail Mage," players help run a magical furniture store and assist customers in hopes of earning a five-star review. As a salesperson -- and wizard -- they can pick up and examine items or tell the system what they'd like to do with a product, such as deconstruct chairs for parts or tear a page from a book to write a note to a shopper. A player's interactions with the shop and NPCs around them -- from gameplay mechanics to content and dialogue creation -- are fueled by AI rather than a predetermined script to create more options for chatting and using objects in the shop. "We believe generative AI can unlock a new kind of gameplay where the world is more responsive and more able to meet players at their creativity and the things that they come up with and the stories they want to tell inside a fantasy setting that we create for them," said Michael Yichao, cofounder of Jam & Tea Studios, which created "Retail Mage." The typical NPC experience often leaves something to be desired. Pre-scripted interactions with someone meant to pass along a quest typically come with a handful of chatting options that lead to the same conclusion: players get the information they need and continue on. Game developers and AI companies say that by using generative AI tech, they aim to create a richer experience that allows for more nuanced relationships with the people and worlds that designers build. Generative AI could also provide more opportunities for players to go off-script and create their own stories if designers can craft environments that feel more alive and can react to players' choices in real-time. Tech companies continue to develop AI for games, even as developers debate how, and whether, they'll use AI in their products. Nvidia created its ACE technologies to bring so-called "digital humans" to life with generative AI. Inworld AI provides developers with a platform for generative NPC behavior and dialogue. Gaming company Ubisoft said last year that it uses Ghostwriter, an in-house AI tool, to help write some NPC dialogue without replacing the video game writer. A report released by the Game Developers Conference in January found that nearly half of developers surveyed said generative AI tools are currently being used in their workplace, with 31 per cent saying they personally use those tools. Developers at indie studios were most likely to use generative AI, with 37 per cent reporting use the tech. Still, roughly four out of five developers said they worry about the ethical use of AI. Carl Kwoh, Jam & Tea's CEO, said AI should be used responsibly alongside creators to elevate stories -- not to replace them. "That's always been the goal: How can we use this tool to create an experience that makes players more connected to each other?" said Kwoh, who is also one of the company's founders. "They can tell stories that they couldn't tell before." Using AI to provide NPCs with endless things to say is "definitely a perk," Yichao said, but "content without meaning is just endless noise." That's why Jam & Tea uses AI -- through Google's Gemma 2 and their own servers in Amazon -- to give NPCs the ability to do more than respond, he said. They can look for objects as they're shopping or respond to other NPCs to add "more life and reactivity than a typically scripted encounter." "I've watched players turn our shopping experience into a bit of a dating sim as they flirt with customers and then NPCs come up with very realistic responses," he said. "It's been really fun to see the game react dynamically to what players bring to the table." Demonstrating a conversation with a NPC in the game "Mecha BREAK," in which players battle war machines, Ike Nnole said that Nvidia has made its AI "humans" respond faster than they previously could by using small language models. Using Nvidia's AI, players can interact with the mechanic, Martel, by asking her to do things like customise the color of a mech machine. "Typically, a gamer would go through menus to do all this," Nnole, a senior product marketing manager at Nvidia said. "Now it could be a much more interactive, much quicker experience." Artificial Agency, a Canadian AI company, built an engine that allows developers to bring AI into any part of their game -- not only NPCs, but also companions and "overseer agents" that can steer a player towards content they're missing. The AI can also create tutorials to teach players a skill that they are missing so they can have more fun in-game, the company said. "One way we like to put it is putting a game designer on the shoulder of everyone as they're playing the game," said Alex Kearney, cofounder of Artificial Agency. The company's AI engine can be integrated at any stage of the game development cycle, she said. Brian Tanner, Artificial Agency's CEO, said scripting every possible outcome of a game can be tedious and difficult to test. Their system allows designers to act more like directors, he said, by telling characters more about their motivation and background. "These characters can improvise on the spot depending on what's actually happening in the game," Tanner said. It's easy to run into a game's guardrails, Tanner said, where NPCs keep repeating the same phrase regardless of how players interact with them. But as AI continues to evolve, that will change, he added. "It is truly going to feel like the world's alive and like everything really reacts to exactly what's happening," he said. "That's going to add tremendous realism."

Can AI Make Video Games More Immersive? Some Studios Turn to AI-Fueled NPCs for More Interaction

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For decades, video games have relied on scripted, stilted interactions with non-player characters to help shepherd gamers in their journeys. But as artificial intelligence technology improves, game studios are experimenting with generative AI to help build environments, assist game writers in crafting NPC dialogue and lend video games the improvisational spontaneity once reserved for table-top role-playing games. In the multiplayer game "Retail Mage," players help run a magical furniture store and assist customers in hopes of earning a five-star review. As a salesperson -- and wizard -- they can pick up and examine items or tell the system what they'd like to do with a product, such as deconstruct chairs for parts or tear a page from a book to write a note to a shopper. A player's interactions with the shop and NPCs around them -- from gameplay mechanics to content and dialogue creation -- are fueled by AI rather than a predetermined script to create more options for chatting and using objects in the shop. "We believe generative AI can unlock a new kind of gameplay where the world is more responsive and more able to meet players at their creativity and the things that they come up with and the stories they want to tell inside a fantasy setting that we create for them," said Michael Yichao, cofounder of Jam & Tea Studios, which created "Retail Mage." The typical NPC experience often leaves something to be desired. Pre-scripted interactions with someone meant to pass along a quest typically come with a handful of chatting options that lead to the same conclusion: players get the information they need and continue on. Game developers and AI companies say that by using generative AI tech, they aim to create a richer experience that allows for more nuanced relationships with the people and worlds that designers build. Generative AI could also provide more opportunities for players to go off-script and create their own stories if designers can craft environments that feel more alive and can react to players' choices in real-time. Tech companies continue to develop AI for games, even as developers debate how, and whether, they'll use AI in their products. Nvidia created its ACE technologies to bring so-called "digital humans" to life with generative AI. Inworld AI provides developers with a platform for generative NPC behavior and dialogue. Gaming company Ubisoft said last year that it uses Ghostwriter, an in-house AI tool, to help write some NPC dialogue without replacing the video game writer. A report released by the Game Developers Conference in January found that nearly half of developers surveyed said generative AI tools are currently being used in their workplace, with 31% saying they personally use those tools. Developers at indie studios were most likely to use generative AI, with 37% reporting use the tech. Still, roughly four out of five developers said they worry about the ethical use of AI. Carl Kwoh, Jam & Tea's CEO, said AI should be used responsibly alongside creators to elevate stories -- not to replace them. "That's always been the goal: How can we use this tool to create an experience that makes players more connected to each other?" said Kwoh, who is also one of the company's founders. "They can tell stories that they couldn't tell before." Using AI to provide NPCs with endless things to say is "definitely a perk," Yichao said, but "content without meaning is just endless noise." That's why Jam & Tea uses AI -- through Google's Gemma 2 and their own servers in Amazon -- to give NPCs the ability to do more than respond, he said. They can look for objects as they're shopping or respond to other NPCs to add "more life and reactivity than a typically scripted encounter." "I've watched players turn our shopping experience into a bit of a dating sim as they flirt with customers and then NPCs come up with very realistic responses," he said. "It's been really fun to see the game react dynamically to what players bring to the table." Demonstrating a conversation with a NPC in the game "Mecha BREAK," in which players battle war machines, Ike Nnole said that Nvidia has made its AI "humans" respond faster than they previously could by using small language models. Using Nvidia's AI, players can interact with the mechanic, Martel, by asking her to do things like customize the color of a mech machine. "Typically, a gamer would go through menus to do all this," Nnole, a senior product marketing manager at Nvidia said. "Now it could be a much more interactive, much quicker experience." Artificial Agency, a Canadian AI company, built an engine that allows developers to bring AI into any part of their game -- not only NPCs, but also companions and "overseer agents" that can steer a player towards content they're missing. The AI can also create tutorials to teach players a skill that they are missing so they can have more fun in-game, the company said. "One way we like to put it is putting a game designer on the shoulder of everyone as they're playing the game," said Alex Kearney, cofounder of Artificial Agency. The company's AI engine can be integrated at any stage of the game development cycle, she said. Brian Tanner, Artificial Agency's CEO, said scripting every possible outcome of a game can be tedious and difficult to test. Their system allows designers to act more like directors, he said, by telling characters more about their motivation and background. "These characters can improvise on the spot depending on what's actually happening in the game," Tanner said. It's easy to run into a game's guardrails, Tanner said, where NPCs keep repeating the same phrase regardless of how players interact with them. But as AI continues to evolve, that will change, he added. "It is truly going to feel like the world's alive and like everything really reacts to exactly what's happening," he said. "That's going to add tremendous realism." Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.