Sony is experimenting with AI-powered PlayStation characters, leaked video reveals
An internal Sony video has leaked online, showing the company experimenting with AI-powered game characters, with an employee having a conversation with Horizon's Aloy.
The details:
As reported by The Verge, an anonymous source shared a now-deleted YouTube video of PlayStation's director of software engineering, Sharwin Raghoebardajal, chatting with an AI-powered version of Horizon protagonist Aloy. Raghoebardajal communicates with the AI through voice prompts, while Aloy's facial movements and responses are generated using controversial technology.
In the video, Raghoebardajal asks Aloy a series of questions, including how she is doing, to which she responds, "Hello, I'm managing alright. Just dealing with a sore throat. How have you been?" However, the AI-powered Aloy's voice is that of a generic AI text-to-speech program rather than her original voice actor, Ashly Burch.
According to The Verge, the demonstration was created using OpenAI's Whisper for speech-to-text, GPT-4 and Llama 3 for decision-making, and Sony's Emotional Voice Synthesis (EVS) and Mockingbird for speech generation and facial animations, respectively.
While Sony's video only shows a prototype, AI is becoming more common in the gaming industry. Some studios have used technology to help with development, such as generating landscapes or placeholder assets, thereby reducing costs and time spent in specific areas. Others, like Activision, have faced backlash for using generative AI for publicly available content, such as cosmetics in AAA titles like Call of Duty. The publisher was also criticized for using AI to create advertisements for fake games in order to conduct market research.
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