How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play

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How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play

By Niall Firth | MIT Technology Review | June 20, 2024

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Video games are carefully crafted objects, part of a multibillion-dollar industry, that are designed to be consumed. You play them, you loot a few stagecoaches, you finish, you move on. It may not always be like that. Just as it is upending other industries, generative AI is opening the door to entirely new kinds of in-game interactions that are open-ended, creative, and unexpected. The game may not always have to end.

Startups employing generative-AI models, like ChatGPT, are using them to create characters that don’t rely on scripts but, instead, converse with you freely. Others are experimenting with NPCs (animated people- “nonplayer characters”— who populate the bars, city streets, or space ports of games) who appear to have entire interior worlds, and who can continue to play even when you, the player, are not around to watch. Eventually, generative AI could create game experiences that are infinitely detailed, twisting and changing every time you experience them. 

The field is still very new, but it’s extremely hot. In 2022 the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz launched Games Fund, a $600 million fund dedicated to gaming startups. A huge number of these are planning to use AI in gaming. And the firm, also known as A16Z, has now invested in two studios that are aiming to create their own versions of AI NPCs. A second $600 million round was announced in April 2024.

Early experimental demos of these experiences are already popping up, and it may not be long before they appear in full games. But some in the industry believe this development will not just make future open-world games incredibly immersive; it could change what kinds of game worlds or experiences are even possible. Ultimately, it could change what it means to play.

It’s like you experience a new work of art as it is being created, with the player participating in its creation. “You’re inside of something like Lord of the Rings as it’s being written. You’re inside a piece of literature that is unfolding around you in real time,”. It is also possible to imagine strategy games where the players and the AI work together to reinvent what kind of game it is and what the rules are, so it is never the same twice.  LLM-powered NPCs can make games unpredictable—and that’s exciting.

It might mean games that are unlike anything we’ve seen thus far. Gaming experiences that unspool as the characters’ relationships shift and change, as friendships start and end, could unlock entirely new narrative experiences that are less about action and more about conversation and personalities.  AI NPCs won’t just enhance player interactions—they might interact with one another in weird ways.

It raises complex questions as well.  “One is: What are the ethical dimensions of pretend violence? And the other is: At what point do AIs become moral agents to which harm can be done?”  There are other potential issues too. An immersive world that feels real, and never ends, could be dangerously addictive.

There are some who believe using AI to enhance existing games is thinking too small. Instead, we should be leaning into the weirdness of LLMs to create entirely new kinds of experiences that were never possible before.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. Video games are carefully crafted objects, part of a multibillion-dollar industry, that are designed to be consumed. You play them, you loot a few stagecoaches, you finish, you move on. It may not always be like that. Just as it is upending other industries, generative AI is opening the door to entirely new kinds of in-game interactions that are open-ended, creative, and unexpected. The game may not always have to end.  The field is still very new, but it’s extremely hot.
2. This development will not just make future open-world games incredibly immersive; it could change what kinds of game worlds or experiences are even possible. Ultimately, it could change what it means to play.  It raises complex questions as well including ethical.
3. There are some who believe using AI to enhance existing games is thinking too small. Instead, we should be leaning into the weirdness of LLMs to create entirely new kinds of experiences that were never possible before.

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Topics:  Technology, Games, Artificial Intelligence