PlayStation sees AI as a 'powerful tool' to help make games

"Sony shared how it's thinking about AI at the company, including many details about how it's evaluating AI as part of making PlayStation games. Generative AI has recently been showing up in bigger games - though many indie developers still reject it - and while Sony calls AI a "powerful tool," it says that the "vision, the design, and the emotional impact of our games will always come from the talent of our studios and performers." and that "AI is meant to augment their capabilities, not to replace them.""

"At its own studios, Sony says that developers are "automating repetitive workflows, improving software engineering productivity, and accelerating areas like quality assurance, 3D modeling, and animation through new, AI-powered tools." One example is with a tool called "Mockingbird" that can animate 3D facial models using performance capture data, and Sony says that Mockingbird is finishing animation work that previously took hours in "a fraction of a second.""

"However, "we are not replacing human performers, but rather optimizing how we process the data from these live captures," according to Sony. Sony also says that it has partnered with Bandai Namco to "explore how Generative AI and the latest technologies can most effectively contribute to realizing a creator's vision in the realm of video production." Through their "explorations," the companies have identified "massive gains in speed and productivity per person" and opportunities where "AI can produce highly sophisticated and realistic outputs" that otherwise haven't been feasible due to "time constraints.""

Sony is evaluating AI for PlayStation game development while emphasizing that creative vision and emotional impact come from studio talent and performers. AI is intended to augment capabilities rather than replace people. Sony’s studios use AI-powered tools to automate repetitive workflows, improve software engineering productivity, and accelerate quality assurance, 3D modeling, and animation. A tool called Mockingbird animates 3D facial models using performance capture data, finishing animation work that previously took hours in a fraction of a second. Naughty Dog and Santa Monica Studio have used Mockingbird, and results have appeared in titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. Sony also partnered with Bandai Namco to explore generative AI for video production, aiming for speed and productivity gains and realistic outputs limited by time constraints.

Read at The Verge