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Why AI-Generated NPCs and Scripts Prove Industry Executives Think You’re Dumb
Industry executives pushing for AI-generated NPCs and writing believe players won't notice the difference. Don't prove them right by falling for the algorithmic hype.
As I sit here, watching Saber Interactive’s CEO have a normal one about how generative AI dialogue can totally improve videogames, I can’t help but grit my teeth in the same, enamel-grinding fashion I have ever since companies like Ubisoft started promising a future with AI-powered neo-NPCs. If you’d believe the hype, these things are potentially good on paper, right? We live in a development environment where the ambitions of big-budget open-world games are far outstripping their cost, leading many to wonder if it wouldn’t be simply marvellous to populate a world with infinite dialogue chains and storylines.
In practice, the result is pretty middling. While some of the isolated tech demos we’ve seen have been impressive, the actual implementation in videogames—such as the life sim Seed or Inzoi, which tried to pilot smart Zois—fell completely flat. Even when they’re a source of entertainment, that fun is mostly found in the absurdity of making them believe they’re pregnant. Listen, I love toys. Putting aside my general distaste for generative AI, I don’t think that every single videogame that comes out has to be a profound work of art. Toys are fine; you can smash action figures together and have a lovely time.
The Broken Pitch of Algorithmic Storytelling
The problem is that playing with toys hasn’t been the pitch. Convai, an AI NPC start-up, wants to avoid a world without games where background characters repeat the same line over and over. Ubisoft wants fully personalised and immersive experiences where its neo-NPCs make games more alive and richer. Meaning Machine is pushing for narrative-based games entirely powered by the tech. The dream is, in a lot of places, to use AI to try and tell stories. The fundamental flaw is that this pipe dream fails at the conceptual level, because algorithmic generation simply isn’t how good storytelling works. These industry execs either completely miss the point, or they genuinely think you are too dumb to appreciate a crafted narrative.
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