AI will 'define your game in the future,' Amazon Games executive says

Amazon Games VP Christoph Hartmann believes that artificial intelligence will help fuel major innovations in games and software.

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With its disruptive effects on jobs, AI is a hot-button topic in gaming. But leaders in the interactive entertainment space are convinced that artificial intelligence can be a net benefit in key ways, such as speeding up production cycles through generative effects and other behind-the-scenes advancements.

Some, like Amazon Games lead Christoph Hartmann, have gone so far to say that AI will 'define your game in the future,' a thought predicated on using the nascent technology to help give players more control and agency in how they interact with game worlds.

In a recent interview with Variety, Hartmann was predictably vague on the exact dynamics of how AI will advance gaming--it seems no one can actually explain in clear terms, or showcase these advancements in clear, concise ways--and instead is based around theoretical what-if moments. For AI, and other innovations in this space, the proof is really in the pudding.

"We as a gaming industry, from all the entertainment forms, will have the biggest impact from AI.

"In all the other forms, it will be very, very transitional in the way things are produced. But that's going to be very much behind the walls, because people see the results, but it's still going to be a movie, a TV show. There will be improvements, it will go faster, quality goes up.

"But what we can do within games and what we are aiming for at Amazon, it's all built around the gamer. Everything is about customization in the world.

"And we really want to put the gamer in the center and make games where you can customize the game in a way where it feels very personal. It could be simple things from art style or story, but there's a lot of other things.

"...Imagine using AI to get trained up, having an artificial mentor who helps you, who learns your playing behavior, and guides you so you can compete, you actually can play. So it will enable us to bring new consumers to gaming who may be afraid to play those more sophisticated games. And I think it will be a huge, huge transition.

"So far, the gaming industry has been driven by hardware. Every new console generation enabled us to make games, but the driver really was the hardware. I think they're shifting now...

"I think the new improvement is going to be on the software side. AI will define your game in the future. And we at Amazon as a company are perfectly set up to go and become a major player in that space."