Artificial intelligence: A lifesaver?

Artificial intelligence. The doomsday and Skynet technology that not only forces us to pay an arm and a leg if we want to upgrade our computer's RAM, but is also the technology that risks completely destroying the beauty of the gaming world. But is that really the case in reality? Are we afraid of something that is actually more of a nuisance than a genuine danger? I don't know and I don't have the answers, because what I do is more a form of video-game-oriented bloke speculation than high-quality, statistics-based research. But you shouldn't dismiss the whole business of blokes speculating about things.

And no, I know I'm not the first to bring this up, and that this topic is basically well and truly over-discussed by now. That doesn't change the fact, however, that it's more relevant than ever, given everything to do with Asha Sharma, Xbox Helix and component prices that are skyrocketing (seriously).

I believe AI is here to stay. We're going to have to live with it now; there's really no doubt about it. If you can incorporate an AI that does the job as well as or better than a human, that decision will be made as long as it saves money. All well and good about innovation and hurrah-hurrah, but ultimately it's economics that matters to the bigwigs around the boardroom tables. It feels - unfortunately - like a fact we can't escape, and even though I absolutely believe the AI bubble will burst, it's a reality we'll have to get used to.

Asha Sharma caused the entire gaming world to express concern in unison because of her background in the AI industry.

The bubble, yes! It'll probably deflate a bit once demand starts to wane. Just as the IT sector survived a rough patch, so too will the AI sector. Hopefully, this will lead to less hype and cheaper components, though. Artificial intelligence is, after all, an industry EVERYONE wants a piece of, but the pie simply won't be big enough in the end, and then we'll most likely see a handful of players dominating the market instead of far too many start-ups and old giants trying to break into the market. It will level off and reach some sort of status quo where we no longer bat an eyelid at its presence in our lives.

But what does this mean for game development and, ultimately, for us players? For the big AAA and AAAA developers, it will likely mean that human characters will be phased out in favour of AI-driven solutions. The moral dilemma posed by this issue will, over time, become blurred, more diffuse and harder to interpret, and you can think what you like about that, but I suspect the most vocal opponents will eventually run out of steam. And the industry giants will, of course, capitalise on that. One small step at a time until we've sort of completely got used to the fact that it's not a human writing dialogue for minor characters, but an AI handling it, just as it handles assets and coding.

This will surely go off the rails in some quarters, where the games we today call soulless and devoid of identity will come to be seen as absolute masterpieces in terms of artistic merit. High-budget AI-driven games, sort of. Even though I'm not spiritual - at all - I'm sure that a game not developed by humans will lack what we actually have that an AI doesn't - a soul and its own unique identity.

We can expect to see plenty of AI in Microsoft's new all-in-one device.

The advantage, of course, is that games will be developed more quickly and, with the help of AI, will be able to run on less powerful hardware. In terms of hardware, I see more advantages than disadvantages, as that field does not stand or fall on human will and spirit. AI acceleration and all the DLSS solutions breathe new life into older setups, and CPUs will be able to perform quantum-level calculations faster with the help of AI tools. I'm no expert on the subject - but as an experienced guesser, I would definitely say that we should, at the very least, mostly welcome AI here.

But whilst Tencent, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard and similar money-hungry giants embrace more and more AI and send home more and more human developers, there is something that will burn brighter and stronger than ever before - humanity's great strengths: art, innovation and identity. And where will this be most evident whilst the next Call of Duty is generic to the nth degree? Well, in the indie world, of course. Beloved, beloved indie world.

The games industry will - possibly - take a beating at first, but smaller indie developers and publishers will undoubtedly want to show how games should be developed and just how big the difference actually is when someone with genuine passion pours their heart and soul into their work. Something advanced artificial intelligence will never be able to achieve. We're going to see a renaissance of games that feel alive. Games where a single developer, with coffee stains on their keyboard and three years of relative sleeplessness, has poured their very soul into every pixel, every sound loop and every half-baked (but heart-warming) line of dialogue.

Larian Studios has dabbled in AI a bit but has had to backtrack, as fans clearly haven't been too keen on these features.

Think about it: when the next AAA title feels like a well-polished but completely hollow shell - just like those procedurally generated open-world maps that look great in the trailer but feel about as engaging as leafing through a DIY catalogue - that's when people will start longing for something different. And that something different won't come from Tencent or EA. It'll come from a bloke in a basement in Skövde, a duo in Poland or a trio in Japan who refuse to use AI for anything more than perhaps a quick placeholder texture.

We gamers will become better at telling the difference. Just as we can now sense when a game has been made with passion and love, as opposed to when it's been made to maximise 'quarterly earnings'. And that sense? It can't be trained into a model. It's human. It's messy and sometimes even bloody ugly, but it's alive and infuses the game with soul and humanity.

So no, I - personally - am not afraid that AI will kill the art of gaming altogether. I actually believe it will do the opposite in the long run, by refining and clarifying what is worth caring about. The big studios can churn out their big-budget AI productions with path ray-tracing and 240 fps. And the rest of us will get back the feeling of playing something that was actually created by someone who cared - a luxury we should stop taking for granted. Games made by someone who cried, swore, laughed and perhaps even hated their own game at some point in the middle of the night. Weaknesses that ultimately become our strength and the reason why we will ultimately emerge victorious from this battle.

What do you think? Do you agree with Joel's reasoning?