This feature is part of AI Week. For more stories, including how AI can improve accessibility in gaming and comments from experts like Tim Sweeney, check out our hub.
AI in games is not particularly novel given that the technology has been used to power games from Half-Life to Chess. But with a new generation of AI tools like ChatGPT quickly evolving, developers are looking at ways AI could shape the next generation of games.
There are still plenty of questions about AI games, especially in terms of how they could impact the labor that goes into making a video game. But while the full grasp of AI’s effect on the video game industry as a whole remains to be seen, there are examples of how generative AI could advance the ways players interact with a game’s characters, enemies, and story.
There aren’t a whole lot of games out right now that take advantage of generative AI, but for an example of existing games with advanced AI, as well as stable experiments that offer a taste of what’s to come, check out the games below.
AI Dungeon
AI Dungeon is more a fun experiment than a proper video game. The browser RPG from developer Latitude lets AI generate random storylines for players to then play around in. Logging into the website, players first choose what kind of scenario they want to experience, whether it’s a fantasy, mystery, cyberpunk, or zombie world. AI Dungeon will then generate a story based on that setting and from there, players can interact with the game like a classic text adventure.
This approach to text AI is not dissimilar from what people are already doing with ChatGPT and other companies, like Hidden Door, are readying similar and more interactive and game-forward takes on the AI Dungeon. But as an example of how AI could affect interaction with a dungeon master, NPC, or enemy in future games, AI Dungeon is worth an experiment.
Alien: Isolation
In 2014, Creative Assembly released Alien: Isolation, a survival game that pits the player against the universe’s most perfect killing organism. The AI used to design the Alien was not new, but shows just how advanced existing AI technology in games already are.
In a deep-dive from GameDeveloper.com, Alien: Isolation took a unique approach to existing AI techniques by essentially making it a PvP game where neither the player nor the Xenomorph is fully aware of each other’s actions or location. However, a second AI, the “director” will periodically give the Alien hints about your location and actions, giving the Alien its edge and advantage, as if in a real-life Xenomorph encounter.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Another well-known game that offers a glimpse of how a more advanced AI could upend gaming is Monolith Productions’ Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor. Also released in 2014, Shadow of Mordor takes a different approach to AI than Alien: Isolation.
Rather than having a ready-made enemy like the Xenomorph hunt you down, players in Shadow of Mordor have a chance of creating their own worst enemy with the Nemesis System. This AI system turns lowly enemies who may have killed the player at some point into strong rivals who grow in rank and power each time they defeat you. And as the game continues, these persistent, procedurally-generated Nemesis will become an original rival character to you, grown completely organically within the game, and not scripted by the developers.
This freedom, like the Xenomorph in Alien: Isolation, is one way AI could unshackle NPCs and enemies as the technology develops.
Stockfish
Have you heard about this game called “Chess”? It’s this cool game that draws thousands of viewers on Twitch every day. I’m just kidding, but one of the first AI programs created specifically to challenge human players was chess, and with the game having a renaissance as of late, why not check out what is currently regarded as one of the best AI-powered Chess players online?
Not only is Stockfish free, but it’s open-source as well. Development is also underway to merge Stockfish with a neural network, which is already showing strong results and could make the world’s smartest chess engine, even smarter. What’s old is new again, and the early AI’s used to play chess are evolving again with the new advancements in AI.
ChatGPT
Chat GPT can’t make games, but it could potentially play a tabletop RPG with you. While OpenAI’s language program is there to generate AI-powered responses to your questions, people online have started enlisting Chat GPT to help with their tabletop campaigns. Whether it’s asking Chat GPT to help come up with designing an adventure for Dungeons and Dragons or joining as a party member, it’s not that difficult to add Chat GPT to your game nights.
Chat GPT’s conversation limit means it probably can’t join your party in the long haul, but in the spirit of experimentation, it’s worth trying out Chat GPT for yourself to see why everyone is buzzing about AI suddenly. And like in AI Dungeon, there are already game developers who are taking this general idea and beginning to tune it towards playable experiences that are, well, actually games.
AI’s impact on games won’t be seen for a couple more years, but these five projects should give you a sample of what to possibly expect when the next chapter of the AI revolution truly hits game development. For more from IGN’s AI Week, check out how AI is being used to create new adventure games, and how AI could impact the animation industry.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
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