What AI Can, Can’t, and Shouldn’t Do for Games

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FAQ

Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence that generates new content, such as text, images, music, or other data types, based on the input it receives. It is designed to create content at a level that challenges, but does not yet surpass, the Turing test.

Some game developers avoid using generative AI due to concerns about the ethics of AI use, potential copyright issues, and the limitations of AI in truly innovative and creative tasks. For instance, 21% of AAA studios prohibit the use of AI entirely.

According to the Game Developers Conference's State of the Industry Report, nearly half of game developers use generative AI in their studios. Tools like GitHub's Copilot, ChatGPT, and Adobe Generative Fill are popular. However, there is a significant variation in usage based on roles within the company.

Traditional uses of AI in video games include path-finding AI for character movement, finite state machines for managing NPC behavior, decision trees for strategic decision-making, behavior trees for flexible AI behaviors, utility AI for evaluating actions, and steering AI for realistic movement in racing games.

Currently, AI is unlikely to create truly innovative game designs. AI tends to be derivative, building on existing knowledge and data. While AI can suggest new uses and parse data quickly, true innovation in game design still relies heavily on human creativity and experience.

AI can assist in game development by automating processes, summarizing large amounts of text, and providing information quickly, acting as a 'super Google.' However, AI is generally not used for tasks that require deep creativity, such as writing narratives or designing game mechanics.

AI plays a significant role in procedural generation, which is used to create endless content such as terrains, dungeons, and flora in games like Minecraft. This is done using crafted algorithms based on random seeds or predefined rules.

Generative AI is not widely adopted in AAA game studios due to high ethical concerns, potential legal risks, and the substantial cost and complexity of game development. Many developers prefer to rely on human creativity and established AI techniques.

Examples of AI techniques used in popular games include path-finding AI in Doom, finite state machines in Red Dead Redemption 2, decision trees in Age of Empires 4, behavior trees in Halo 2, and scripted AI in Baldur's Gate 3.

Concerns about the use of AI in creative fields include ethical issues, potential copyright infringement, and the risk of AI-generated content being unoriginal or derivative. There are also worries about how AI might impact the creative process and job roles within the industry.

John Romero
John Romero
26 min
15 Jun, 2024

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Video Summary and Transcription
AI in game development has evolved rapidly, with generative AI being a focus. However, game developers like Romero Games have concerns about ethics and prefer using AI to automate processes and make creative work easier. AI has been used in games for decades, from path-finding AI to decision trees. Procedural world building and advanced AI technology are pushing the boundaries of FPS games. Different teams within a company have different approaches to the use of AI, depending on their specific needs and requirements.

1. Introduction to AI and its Use in Games

Short description:

This morning, we'll discuss what AI can, can't, and shouldn't do for games. AI has evolved rapidly, with generative AI being the focus. It can generate content, but not yet pass the Turing test. Game developers are using AI, but its adoption varies among studios and roles within the company.

And this morning we're going to take a look at what AI can, can't, and shouldn't do for games. And for what it's worth, generative AI did not make this presentation. So I've been coding and making games since I was 11. So it's over 45 years. I'm 15 in this picture. I'm rocking a double monitor Apple 2 plus setup. And in my 40 plus year career as a technologist, I believe that the advent of AI is the single greatest technological change since the invention of the Internet.

It's caught many by surprise and, mind you, I've been around since, you know, a long time. So, this was pretty much the most amazing thing that a computer could do back then. Hello, world. So what do we mean when we say AI? AI has actually been around since the dawn of computers. But when we're talking about AI today, the stuff that's setting the tech world on fire, what most people mean is generative AI, the type of AI designed to generate new content, text, images, music, or other data types based on the input that it receives. And not just generate it, but generate it at a level that challenges, but not yet passes the Turing test. To even challenge is pretty incredible. AI is now amazing, is capable of really amazing things.

So you know, immediately everyone in finance is like, yeah, let it rain money! And we'll have generative design and code and art and music and Q&A and we'll empty out the offices and we'll keep all the money! Bam, bam, bam, bam! But you know, that didn't go so well, unsurprisingly. So let's examine how game developers are using AI right now. So in January of this year, the Game Developers Conference, which is the largest conference in my field, released their State of the Industry Report. And for the first time, AI was a topic of the survey, which shows you how fast the field has evolved. And they asked participants about their use of generative AI tools, such as GitHub's Copilot, ChatGPT, and Adobe Generative Fill, some real basic ones there. Nearly half of game developers said generative AI was being used in their studio. And 31% of people noted that they were using AI themselves. 18% said that they didn't, but their colleagues did. And 15% said that while they didn't use it, their studio was interested. And the remainder really had no interest or they were unsure. And answers also varied depending on people's roles in the company. 44% of people in business and finance used AI tools, compared with 16% for those in AI-related roles, and only 13% for those in narrative. And what about those who didn't use AI tools? Well, 21% of AAA studios, typically creators of big budget blockbuster games, probably over $75 million to create, they prohibited the use of AI entirely. For smaller developers, this number was 12%. And 7% of developers allowed some tools, while other studios just made it optional.

2. AI Use at Romero Games

Short description:

Romero Games doesn't use generative AI in games at all. While AI can be useful for research, there's still work to be done. The speaker shares humorous and false claims about themselves and highlights the potential dangers of AI.

So what about at Romero Games, my company? Well, we use no generative AI in games at all, whether in art or code or audio or writing or designing, and we're pretty firm about that. AI can sometimes be useful, obviously, as a super Google for research, for parsing thousands of links into a potentially definitive answer. But there's still a lot of work to do, and AI has told me that I was born in Guatemala. And I wasn't. I was raised by my Mexican grandmother. But at least she was Mexican, and that would have been pretty great, though. Evidently, I appear in music videos, which is news to me. And best of all, I'm the son of horror movie maker George Romero, if you didn't know that. Which given the names of the games I make and the movies he makes, well, that's kind of plausible. But the truth is that these things aren't true, and obviously that's a danger, and I'll come back to that later on.

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