LogInHowever, the company lets artificial intelligence do some hard work.
Image credit: Blizzard
Game developers need to be very careful when they talk about AI as admitting to using it might elicit a torrent of negative reactions. Blizzard doesn't hide the fact that it allows AI to do some chores, but it's not in the way we're used to seeing from other companies.
Speaking with IGN, World of Warcraft's director John Hight reassured everybody concerned that Blizzard doesn't use generative AI in the series as he himself appreciates the creative process.
"My mom was the aeronautical engineer and my dad was a fine artist…So I have that appreciation for the creative process, what an artist goes through in their imagination. I think the artists on the team have a fear that the AI will be deployed to take them out of a job and they certainly don't want their work to be used without their permission or without credit or whatever else, and so I think we're all sorting that out. The rights issues, the how far do we use this technology, but we're not using it. We're not using generative AI within WoW."
It doesn't mean that there is no place for other kinds of AI in production. Hight said that machine learning helps developers do things "that people either can't do or it's very cumbersome to do." One such thing is the fitting of armor on the many characters WoW has.
"Our artists used to have to go through and they'd build it for human form and then they'd have to go and retrofit all these things for all the various body shapes and horns and big snouts and tails and all of that. That is just not particularly fun work for them. A few years ago, we said, ‘Can we use machine learning to help at least get it to a point where 90% of the work is being done for them and then they can fine-tune it?’ And we went about that."
Hight admitted it works really well, allowing developers to make a lot more different armor. According to him, Blizzard's artists love it, grateful for not having to do "the grungy part."
While some avoid AI at all costs, others embrace it. Earlier, Hasbro promised more AI experiments in the future. On the other hand, both the EU and the US roll out new regulations concerning the use of AI. Moreover, businesses have started demanding AI safeguards in their contracts with advertising agencies. Considering how many brands have fallen victim to AI images provided by third-party "artists" (or so they say,) this is a very nice movement, indeed.
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