The era of artificial intelligence is truly here, reports are now claiming that Sony is testing this AI-powered version of a beloved video game character.
According to reports, the beloved first-party PlayStation game, "Horizon," is at the center of this experiment as its heroine, Aloy, is getting the AI treatment.
Sony Is Reportedly Working on an AI-Powered Version of Aloy
One of Sony's most beloved AAA-rated franchise on PlayStation, "Horizon," has long focused on traditional game and character design as well as development, but that may soon change, according to the latest report from The Verge.
The publication revealed that an anonymous source shared an internal video from PlayStation which details the company's dive into generative AI.
As seen in the video, the PlayStation team created an AI-powered version of "Horizon's" main character, Aloy, who is best known for being the protagonist of its two releases, "Horizon: Zero Dawn" and "Horizon: Forbidden West."
It was also revealed by The Verge that the video was already taken down because of a copyright claim from Muso, an enforcement company that has Sony Interactive Entertainment as a client.
The report shared that the video was narrated by Sony Interactive Entertainment's Director of Software Engineering, Sharwin Raghoebardajal.
The video reportedly showed Raghoebardajal having a conversation with the AI-powered Aloy via voice prompts during the gameplay. The video also detailed how the character can respond through AI-powered voice synthesis and facial gestures.
'Horizon's' Aloy AI Transformation Is an Experiment
The reported video which contained Aloy's AI transformation was revealed to be an experiment that Sony is doing via its advanced technology group.
According to the report, Sony has used OpenAI's whisper speech-to-text technology, alongside large language models including GPT-4 and Llama 3 for the character's conversational capabilities. Sony's Emotional Voice Synthesis (EVS) for speech generation and the company's Mockingbird technology for audio-to-face animation were also used for the demonstration.
The demo involved the PC version of the game, but a separate test was conducted using the PlayStation 5 version. The company first held the demo internally last year, as well as in the Sony Technology Exchange Fair (STEF) in Tokyo last November.
