“AI copilot” and character runtime engine discussed
Much like Weyland-Yutani linking arms with Skynet, Microsoft have teamed up with Inworld to bring the latter’s “generative AI” tools to Xbox studios. This “multi-year co-development partnership” will “build a powerful toolkit that harnesses artificial intelligence to enrich the narrative and character creation elements of game development”, according to Inworld CEO Ilya Gelfenbeyn. You might recognise Inworld as the tech used by thatGTA 5 mod about AI cultists in which characters speak AI-generated dialogue, which Rockstar blocked from distribution over the summer. Suffice to say that Microsoft have grander plans for it.
Xbox general manager of gaming AI Haiyan Zhang adds in the Inworld post that the forthcoming toolkit will “empower creators in dialogue, story, and quest design”, and will be available to developers of all sizes around the world. It’ll be integrated with Microsoft’s internal “AI” projects, including the Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft Research’s, er, research.
Microsoft are up to their necks in various AI projects and productions. The company announced that they hadplunged billions into OpenAIthis January, shortly after laying thousands of people off. The framing of the Inworld tool as a “copilot” and an “assistant”, designed to cut out time rather than staff, reads like an attempt to reassure current Xbox developers that they aren’t on the chopping block.
