Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot says generative AI will be “considered and tested” – and it looks XXXX

At a behind-closed-doors preview of Ubisoft's Neo NPC generative AI project, CEO of Ubisoft Yves Guillemot - speaking to journalists - was asked by VG247 whether he was concerned that the company's push will be recieved in the same negative light as the company's prior dive into NFT and Web 3. In response, Guillemot stated that all new evolutions have to be "considered and tested".

"I think what you have to consider is all the new evolutions have to be considered and tested," he told me after the preview. "I think generative AI, really, has existed in our industry for a long time. Now we are taking another step, because there is lots of investment in that subject, and so video games are going to use it like other industries will do."

Ubisoft's controversial experiment with Quartz NFTs had direct tie-ins to Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, and were quietly wound-down following brief exposure to the public. Later in 2023 Ubisoft's partnership with Web 3 platform Immutable would also be announced, a declaration of sorts that the industry giant was not shying away from messing around with controversial technologies (see also: Square Enix).

The same appears true with generative AI, now. Ubisoft is not alone - other industry leaders like, once again, Square Enix, are testing the technology and looking for applications in video games. In this arms race to find out what uses generative AI has video games, Ubisoft is throwing its hat into the ring.

It's all kicking off with Neo NPCs - Ubisoft's initial embrace of generative AI that I saw demonstrated as a collection of three proof-of-concept demos shown off at GDC. In these demos, players can give voice prompts to NPCS, who in turn will react in-character both through speech, facial mannerisms, and gestures.

These varied from a bonding conversation with a rebel, on-going adaptive dialogue during a mission, and the ability to change an NPC's mind when prepping for a heist. All are in the experimental phase, as developers the present, and Guillemot himself, were keen to emphasize.

On the investment note, it's true there's a lot of fiscal interest in generative AI. Earlier in the day, NVIDIA revealed a sweeping selection of generative AI technology at GDC 2024, including NVIDIA Ace for speech and animation, and NVIDIA NeMo for language. Both use generative AI, and were a component in NVIDIAs rise in stock price in recent days.

As far as initial impressions go, these Neo NPC proof-of-concepts are interesting tasters, rather than the full-meal AI super-game that many have been speculating about since the technology's rise in notoriaty in recent years. In its current form it's a fun gimmick that can be genuinely entertaining, though clearly imperfect at its current form. Whether or not this can be applied to a full game experience while retaining its appeal remains to be seen - but in my brief time with the game I can't deny there's a charm to it. More comprehensive impressions from VG247 to come at a later date.