Gaming's AI Revolution

Being a gamer, I find this fascinating yet troubling. The gaming world is changing, and the AI-driven shift can affect my most beloved hobby. It really makes me sad when I see news of layoffs or studio closures in the games industry. Everything seemed so promising during the pandemic gaming boom, but now it feels like the bubble has burst. With all this uncertainty, the sudden push for AI in game development has me worried about the future of gaming.

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From what I have understood, major tech companies are touting AI as a revolutionary force that can be used to create games. They’re saying it will speed up development and make it more innovative. However, could it also be that firms are simply doing so to save on operational costs by downsizing their workforce?

To me as a player, there’s something human about any video game and this cannot be replaced by AI.

I understand that some areas of game development are already affected by AI, particularly in art-related roles. This scares me a little. I’ve always admired the different artworks and creative visions brought to games by various artists. However, if more of this content is generated by AI, we could lose out on the diversity and personality which makes each game unique.

Games constitute art that combines numerous creative elements including music, storytelling, visual design and programming. It’s just magical to think people with real passion and creativity made these experiences possible. Will games ever be the same if they are predominantly AI-generated?

AI’s potential impacts on smaller developers worry me as an indie game enthusiast.

Indie games already struggle to compete with their triple-A counterparts. In case larger studios can use AI to create content at scale or it leads to influx of copycat games into the market, it might be even harder for individual indies to get noticed amidst all this noise.

Environmental impact

I hadn’t taken into consideration the environment side of AI in gaming until now. Already gaming has such a huge carbon footprint and if AI requires even more energy, I consider that a problem.

I also have some misgivings about the copyright issues with respect to AI in game development. I appreciate originality while giving credit to the artists involved. The concept that an AI might learn from existing creations without appropriate consent just doesn’t feel right.

There is also a case for how careful use of AI brings positive outcomes that can be seen If it can do dull backend jobs and let developers focus on creativity doing what they do best, then this is great.

https://youtube.com/shorts/_a0ej19nDH8?si=6t9_AoprKOv2CbkE

However, I’d hate to see the core creative processes that make games unique and engaging be taken over by AI.

My feelings are shared by many players I think. This shows that people are concerned about authenticity and human creativity in their games as evidenced by some of the negative reactions towards voice lines and artwork made by AI in some recent games.

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