Nvidia AI Demo Unwittingly Proves that Human Voice Actors, Artists, and Writers are Irreplaceable

Nvidia presented Covert Protocol, a tech demo aiming to showcase the "power" of the Nvidia Ace technology applied to video game characters.

[jznrpg]

Characters look poor.

[Eonjay]

They look like they are in pain. Almost begging to be put down. It was uncomfortable to watch.

[PRIMORDUS]

The tech. is too early. Come back in 10+yrs and see what it can do then.

[N3mzor]

That presentation sounds like it was written by an AI using corporate buzzwords.

[CS7]

I don’t know why people keep thinking of it as AI vs no AI.

A much more likely scenario is the use of AI alongside human work.

Eg. AI voices used during side quests or banter to boost the lines of dialog.

AI generating additional pre determined branches in dialog tree options for more freedom in conversations with NPCs

[Smellsforfree]

"AI generating additional pre determined branches in dialog tree options for more freedom in conversations with NPCs"

I'm wondering about that last one. Will that make a game more fun or more immersive? In the end, how can it possibly be more than filler content and then if it is filler content how much do I really want to engage with conversing with it if I know it will lead no where?

[MrBaskerville]

It's one of those things that sounds cool on paper. But will probably get old fast.

[DivineHand125]

The tech is now available, and it is up to creators to create something unique with it.

[Profchaos]

The biggest thing to talk about here is that every interaction requires communication to inworld servers so there's three big impacts here
1) games are always online no question about it
2) delays in processing on inworld servers, outages or unexpected load as a result of some astronomically popular game will cause real time game delays ever wait for a chat got response this will be similar as the context must be pulled via the llm.

Now as for the other impact the artistic one no I don't think writers can be replaced I've mentioned before often AI generated writing is word soup I still standby that it's also evident in the video to.
AI can not convery accurately human emotions and I don't think ever will.

I know publishers are looking to cut down on development costs but what happens when inworld decide to charge per interaction or update their pricing a year after your game goes live you have no choice but pay it or shutter it.

Ive felt for a while that we are heading towards this place of games being disposable entertainment and now it's feeling more and more accurate

[Notellin]

This tech is being show just to increase NPC variety. Currently NPC's who aren't integral to the story lack any personality whatsoever and will repeat the same lines thousands of times during a playthrough.

I think this can help with the filler characters in open world games but should not be used on main characters or those involved in the storyline.

[Strange99]

100%. People claiming the models are bad, the dialogue terrible, or “this can’t replace good writing” aren’t getting the point. AI isn’t going away. It’s a tool to help guide the process, not replace it. How many times do NPC’s shout the same line when you run by them? Now…. It can be different. I’m playing a few games right now that are only 3 years old at best where I could see a much less annoying experience if they used a little of this. And in regards to what I’m talking about, there need be no jobs lost. Just a tool to make your job easier.

[MrBaskerville]

It will be used to replace, not in every game, but If you thought asset flip games were bad, get ready for what's coming.

[ibrake4naps]

This will be cheaper, so it will be everywhere.

[Profchaos]

Maybe initially while the tech is being pushed however in the video you can see every interaction requires a callback to the inworld server to run a llm query meaning there is consumption of a service compute network etc that will be tied to a cost every single time.

Garuntee that prices for this will not be cheap long term

[Knightofelemia]

I'd rather have AI added to the smarts of an NPC or an enemy. Some enemies and NPC's can be utterly stupid. But I mean from what I am hearing all it is is just Chat GPT with a voice that's all. Real voice actors add personality, character traits, and feeling with their voice. Skynet I am sorry can't do that quite yet the AI lacks the feeling of why that character is sad and crying or screaming loudly because of the pain. Or why that character is happy and cheerful. It's like teaching AI to paint. All the AI does is copy what it sees. It doesn't understand why that mountain in the shadows stands out and takes its breath away while enjoying the scenery. And having AI try and write a story again most likely will be Chat GPT grabbing a bunch of random crap off the net. The story would most likely lose the feeling of say why the main character is waiting by the train. If AI could write an actual Disney movie without being woke and crap I will be surprised. And unlike AI there are fans out there who are fans of certain voice actors like Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Sean Schemmel to name a few.

[gold_drake]

some of these characters look rouuuugh.

[Retro1986]

Would be Cool with a open World game that lives its own life. Each player gets its own unique experience of the game with AI that develops based on choises made in the game, and maybe Even develops outside on its own straight away when the game starts. Scary, but would be interesting.

[Murdability]

Still in its infancy. Something tells me we’ll have a different tune in five years or less

[Jingsing]

Next Microsoft game.

[GamesAsAService]

This is the worst it will ever be...

[gleepot]

Definitely not there yet.

[rlow1]

While I agree the demo wasn't anything ground breaking. Just think where A.I. was just two years ago? Nobody was talking ChatGPT back then. Because A.I. wasn't a thing, now it's starting to show up everywhere. Nvidia is launching their new ecosystem which is much, much more powerful. As this technology advances at warp speed, where we are today will look much different in a year from now. The capabilities of A.I. is just starting.......as my pappy used to say, Lay low and watch the arrows, because times are a changing.

[generic-user-name]

It's considered 'uncool' to be excited about AI, the fact that we are already at this stage in gen 1 of this new wave of AI is staggering. Dismissing it with headlines like this is pure agenda. Games where you can naturally speak to every random NPC and for them to be able to understand and react to everything you say...the potential is amazing.

Just wait until the pedestrian you shot in GTA7 (or a mod for GTA6) pleads with you to spare their life or if you're a bad guy, maybe you torment them in their final moments and they react accordingly. Maybe when you're robbing a store, instead of cops rushing in, they try to negotiate with you because you have hostages, or maybe you can be in the position of the cop, talking down a hostile NPC from escalating a situation.

When games start being built around this technology, it's going to be nuts.