Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund discusses how AI was used in the creation of ARC Raiders.
ARC Raiders continues to take the World by storm and is a rare modern example of a live-service game that has found an audience and maintained a consistent player count. AI as a technology is also trying to find its place in the gaming industry.
In general, players are wary of AI, but some studios feel it can be a useful tool early in game development.
Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund Says AI Is Viewed As a Production Tool in ARC Raiders
In an interview with GamesIndustry.Biz, Söderlund explained that Embark sees technology as a tool. Specifically, AI was used for some of the voice lines in ARC Raiders. Embark says it always works with real actors, but in select cases, it pays them to license their voices for text-to-speech for certain lines. However, certain lines have been re-recorded, and there are currently fewer AI-generated lines in the game than there were at its initial release.
“There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that’s just how it is,” he said. “We look at [AI] first and foremost as a production tool. We can test things internally. We can test 15 different lines without recording them, and then we know what to record. It’s also a way for us to work, not replace actors. We don’t necessarily believe in replacing humans with AI all the time.”
In other AI-related gaming news, Xbox’s new CEO, Asha Sharma, has given her stance on “bad AI.” She previously worked in Microsoft’s AI department. Read her comments here.
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