Xbox Head Phil Spencer Addresses Growing Concerns Around AI in Game Development

Artificial Intelligence has been talk of the town for quite a while globally with companies looking to harness the technological prowess of AI models such as ChatGPT to cut costs, create more effective workflow, and in some cases, hand over some creative processes to AI rather than artists. Gaming industry is not an exception to this and now Xbox boss Phil Spencer has addressed these AI concerns, saying that he is protective of the creative process.

Xbox Head Phil Spencer on Use of AI in Game Development

Phil Spencer told The Guardian at the recent Xbox Games Showcase in Los Angeles, “Actually, that isn’t an area we’re thinking about a ton with AI.” Spencer mentioned that while talking about AI’s role in game production at Xbox. He added that AI is at the “front and centre” for Xbox when it comes to policy and enforcement. He also mentioned how difficult it would be for a human to comprehend and monitor the traffic on Xbox Live to ensure network safety.

“So applying technology that can ensure that the right conversations are happening with the right people, that’s an area where the intersection between Microsoft’s AI capability and what gaming is doing is important,” added Phil Spencer.

More importantly, Spencer said, “I’ll say as a head of Xbox, I’m very protective of the creative process.” He added how he was not onboard with the idea of an NFT game since his belief states that “games aren’t built to showcase technology.” Spencer added that instead, technology helps showcase creativity in a game. “AI’s been in video games for decades and I like to make tools available to our creators so they can make the best games, and that’s where I start,” said Spencer.

Xbox head also addressed how game development stands to be influenced by using AI models such as ChatGPT to create NPC dialogues, especially for open-world games with large worlds. Spencer said, “I don’t think we’ve found the intersection of large language model AI and more fun in a video game. I’m not saying we won’t, but I like to enable our teams to think about that as an expanded part of their canvas and where they can find more fun before it would get to any kind of efficiency thing. Efficiency only matters if you found success with the thing that you’re trying to grow and build.”