Which video game big names will fire and play with ChatGpt and partners
In China, numerous software houses have hired AIs similar to ChatGpt for the development of their video games, with heavy repercussions on employment. Now even Western labels, grappling with the crisis, are thinking about it
The world of videogames looks curiously at the phenomenon at the base of ChatGpt and associates. OpenAi's intelligent algorithm could open new frontiers in the behavioral routine of non-player characters, which has remained unchanged in the last 20 years with the game-controlled enemies and allies of the human player hardly able to offer the challenge desired by gamers (hence the success of online games), but also and above all thinning the ranks of developers, with so many figures that could easily be replaced by artificial intelligence. A boon given that the software houses are grappling with a strong economic crisis .
THE CHINESE EXPERIENCE
In China, similar cleanups have already begun and have been so traumatic as to lead several software houses that had excessively intertwined their video games with AI along the lines of ChatGpt to put it in reverse and apologize in some cases to users. But the damage is done in some sectors: according to the Rest of World report in China, the search for professional illustrators for video games has decreased by 70% due to artificial intelligence.
IBM'S DARK WARNING
In short, the words recently expressed by the CEO of IBM , Arvind Krishna , sound like a rather gloomy warning, according to which thanks to ChatGpt & co. it will be possible to cut thousands of jobs, freezing the recruitment of 7,800 job positions which will be replaced precisely by algorithms.
TO RECOVER UBISOFT BETTING ON AI?
Ubisoft, on the wave of enthusiasm for ChatGpt and the like, was among the first Western software houses to announce plans to use generative artificial intelligence for the development of video games.
They will be used at all levels and internal trials have already begun. The French multinational will have to recover from the negative balance of more than 585 million dollars recorded last year (against profits of 241.5 million euros the previous year), with sales of 1.81 billion euros, down by 14, 6% compared to the previous year and bookings dropped by 18.3%, to 1.73 billion euros.
For this Ubisoft is in the midst of a strong restructuring, which has already led to the dismissal of seven hundred people around the world, including a Milanese team , with which savings of 200 million euros are sought, which could be paired with continued use more marked than ChatGpt-like AI in its videogames.
Let's not forget that the publisher from beyond the Alps has revealed the existence of an algorithm developed in the heart of the Canadian division, by Ubisoft La Forge , already in an advanced stage of development, so much so that the software house wanted to show its potential in a video . The Canadian "chatgpt" should serve to build the texts of the secondary characters, lightening the work of the screenwriters. And if the need to save were to become more pressing similar software could easily have a greater use, even if in France the trade unions are already on the alert.
ACTIVISION DIALOGUE WITH CHATGPT?
Activision Blizzard could be the first software house to exploit ChatGpt in its video games. The hypothesis was floated by the same CEO of the Group that Microsoft would like to buy for 70 billion dollars and which, it seems, could remain on the table even if the acquisition were to be missed due to the US Antitrust given that the number 1 of Activision stressed that it knows OpenAI's counterpart Sam Altman well.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a recent company meeting, the recording of which ended up in the hands of Kotaku reporters and has been verified, he feels similar to the sensation faced by the disruption of AI he tried when he saw the first Macintosh years ago. The executive said he believes AI could have a "significant impact" on society.
On the playful front, for the number 1 of Activision the AI along the lines of ChatGpt "will allow us to do things that we have not been able to do for a long time". For example, the technology being developed by OpenAi could fulfill its "vision of what a new Guitar Hero game could look like." The senior executive added that AI could help make some of Activision's more demanding games, like Call of Duty, easier for people to use. “When you look at games like Call of Duty, people play a fraction of what they might play because there are so many things to do and complex to learn,” Kotick said.
But the most interesting aspect concerns the fact that in this meeting the number 1 of Activision also underlined that he has known the founder of OpenAI Sam Altman "for a long time", as if he wanted to make it clear that a dialogue between the two software houses would be possible even in the event that the acquisition of the Group by Microsoft is not successful. As is known, in fact, the House of Redmond has put 70 billion dollars on the plate to be able to buy Activision Blizzard, an operation frozen by various antitrust authorities, above all the US one ( the UK one has already spoken out against it ).
THE DOUBTS OF TAKE TWO (WHICH WORKS WITH AI IN THE MEANWHILE)
More cautious but still interested in the use of similar tools Strauss Zelnick , CEO of Take-Two (parent company of Rockstar Games and not only and therefore responsible for successes such as GTA and Red Dead Redemption). Speaking of the marriage between software of the caliber of ChatGpt and video games, the CEO said that although he is "enthusiastic" he does not think that "AI advances will make it easier to create successes".
“As you know, I'm usually skeptical when others make hyperbole, but in the case of AI I'm quite enthusiastic,” Zelnick first told investors. “Although artificial intelligence is an oxymoron – as is machine learning – this company has been involved in these activities, no matter what words are used to describe them, throughout its history and we are leaders in that space.”
“The latest developments in AI are surprising and exciting to many, but not surprising to us at all. Our view is that AI will allow us to do better and more efficient work. We are talking about tools, and they are simply better and more effective tools”, declared the CEO of the Group.
“I wish I could say that advances in AI will make it easier to create hits, obviously that won't be the case,” Zelnick added. “Successes are created by genius. And data sets plus large computational power and language models don't equal genius. Genius is the preserve of human beings and I believe it will remain so”.
In recent weeks Take-Two (a group worth around 20 billion dollars: it is being talked about above all due to the rumor according to which Sony would like to acquire it ) has officially confirmed that it will carry out a series of layoffs, which will involve the publisher Private Division and other sectors of the company, which is the parent company of Rockstar Games ( GTA ), 2K and Zynga.
Employees discovered the scissoring in progress in the worst possible way: a tweet by Jason Schreier , journalist of the Bloomberg portal , who spoke of staff cuts in particular for Private Division, the publisher of OlliOlli World, Kerbal Space Program 2 and The Outer Worlds .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/quali-big-dei-videogiochi-licenzieranno-e-giochicchieranno-con-chatgpt-e-soci/ on Mon, 22 May 2023 14:40:51 +0000.