How AI is fuelling uncertainty for game developers

Tom Richardson from BBC Newsbeat reports that Nvidia's AI-driven avatars are being hailed as a glimpse into the future of gaming. At a recent convention, a man stood in front of a screen displaying a CPU-controlled character in a 3D environment. Above the screen, a sign read 'bring characters to life with on-device AI models'. Jess Hyland, a video game artist, says she is very aware that she could wake up tomorrow and her job could be gone. She has worked in the industry for almost 15 years and says it is on 'shaky' ground. During the pandemic, there was a boom in players and profits, leading to many investments, expansions, and acquisitions. But now, many workers have lost their jobs, and some successful studios have shut down. Jess says, 'Everyone knows someone who's been laid off. There's lots of worry about the future. ' Some bosses believe that generative AI, like the tech behind ChatGPT, could save the industry. Companies like Nvidia, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft are investing in AI tools. They claim these tools can help create games faster and provide a more personalized experience for players. But not everyone agrees. Jess, who is part of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain's game workers branch, says that the people most excited about AI are not the creatives. She believes that bosses see AI as a way to cut costs, especially since labor is their biggest expense. Jess knows someone who lost work because of AI and has heard of others in the same situation. Many firms making AI tools say they are not meant to replace humans, but Jess worries that jobs will change in a bad way. Instead of creating their own material, artists might end up fixing AI-generated content. Jess says, 'The stuff that AI generates, you become the person whose job is fixing it. It's not why I got into making games. ' Gaming is a big business, but it is also an art form that brings together artists, musicians, writers, programmers, and actors. Many worry that AI will minimize their work. Chris Knowles, a former senior engine developer at UK gaming firm Jagex, shares this concern. He says, 'If you're going to have to hire actual human artists to fix the output, why not harness their creativity and make something new that connects with players? ' Chris, who now runs UK indie studio Sidequest Ninja, says smaller developers are generally not excited about using generative AI. He worries about cloned games, especially in mobile gaming. Some studios are set up just to create clones of original titles. While it is not yet possible to copy a whole game using AI, copying artwork is easy. Chris says, 'Anything that makes the clone studios' business model even cheaper and quicker makes the difficult task of running a financially sustainable indie studio even harder. ' He also points to the cost of running generative AI systems as a big concern. Copyright issues are another major barrier to the wider use of AI in gaming. AI tools are trained on large amounts of text and pictures from the internet, which many artists believe is 'mass copyright infringement'. Some studios are exploring systems trained on internal data, and third parties are offering ethical tools that use authorized sources. Even then, there is a fear that AI will be used to create assets like artwork and 3D models at scale, and workers will be expected to produce more output. Jess says, 'The more content you can make, the more money you can make. ' Some in the industry are more positive about AI. Composer Borislav Slavov, who won a Bafta Games Award for his work on Baldur's Gate 3, says he is 'excited about what AI could bring to the table for music in the near future'. He believes it will help composers explore new directions faster and push them out of their comfort zones. However, he agrees that AI cannot 'replace the human soul and spirit'. Jess says she has serious reservations about using AI to 'automate creativity', but she would not be against using it for repetitive admin tasks. The AI industry is trying to reassure governments and regulators about its future use. It will also have to win over gamers. Some games have faced backlash for using AI-generated content. Jess believes that growing talk about AI has made gamers think about what they love about games and what makes them special. Indie developer Chris adds, 'If you train a generative model on nothing but cave paintings, all it'll ever give you will be cave paintings. It takes humans to get from there to the Sistine Chapel.