Report: EA's internal AI is causing issues with games development

EA is reportedly pushing developers to use AI more and more, and it's causing problems with content production.

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EA's experimental generative AI chatbot in action - users can input text and the AI will change world states based on commands.

Electronic Arts has big plans for AI. Last year, the publisher revealed a generative AI chatbot prototype that could change how players interact with games. Users type in what they want to see in the game, and the chatbot renders it in real time, adjusting level design, weapons, and rules. In the presentation, EA said that they had over 100 active AI projects in development.

• Read more: Report: Microsoft chose to lay off thousands in favor of AI investment
• Read more: AI may be causing 'more problems than it solves' for game developers

New reports from Business Insider say that EA is also using AI behind the scenes in the hopes of shaving off costs and automating specific workloads. But the tech is still experimental, and the limits in what it can and can't do haven't properly been tested. New reports suggest that this testing is happening in real-time on active business hours, and is costing the company extra time and money as workers have to solve the problems that AI creates for them.

The reports underscore a bristly friction between EA's developers and executive management's AI mandates. Sources tell the publication that EA's internal chatbot, ReefGPT, has written erroneous code that has caused issues for developers. Others say that the AI tools create "hallucinations" that workers must go in and manually solve.

One of the biggest sources of worker anxiety is the pervasive feeling that employees are simply training their automated AI replacements. The reports say this is true for EA employees.

The video games industry has laid off tens of thousands of workers--a reaction to the volatile economic market, but companies are also making grand sweeping efforts to cut costs with the use of AI. The simultaneous squeeze of these trends is putting heavy pressure on teams.

Microsoft, in particular, has invested $80 billion into AI, including its own internal artificial intelligence toolset infrastructures used for games development--most of which are secretive and have yet to be revealed. The biggest showcase to come out of this investment is MUSE, which is Microsoft's generative AI tech that can render games in real time without code from developers.

Ultimately, artificial intelligence remains an enigmatic technology shrouded in mystery--most publishers have not explained how exactly they will use the technology, instead opting for flashy tech demos, experimental feature showcases, and lots of promises of cost-saving and interactivity for players.