A leaked Sony video has alleged that the company that brought users the PlayStation is experimenting with AI-powered characters using the Horizon Forbidden West protagonist.
An anonymous source leaked an internal video from the PlayStation group to The Verge today. The video, which has since been removed due to a copyright claim from Muso, a copyright enforcement company working under PlayStation, revealed that PlayStation has at least one AI-powered version of lead protagonist Aloy from Horizon Forbidden West. Since the publication of the video was met with swift action from Sony, it is possible the leak is legitimate, similar to how Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Pokédexes were leaked before those titles launched.
In the video detailed by The Verge, Sony Interactive Entertainment director of software engineering Sharwin Raghoebardajal can be heard conversing with an AI-powered version of Aloy, with the AI utilizing human facial expressions that coincide with what it is saying.
The leaked tech demo uses a combination of OpenAI’s Whisper for speech-to-text and both GPT-4 and Llama 3 for conversations and decision-making. According to Raghoebardajal, Sony’s own Mockingbird technology and its internal Emotional Voice Synthesis (EVS) system work together to create the model of Aloy seen in the video.
“This is just a glimpse of what is possible,” Raghoebardajal says in the leaked video.
Many companies have been exploring AI recently, with Activision admitting it used AI in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 assets and facing immense backlash for that decision. The gaming industry has seen a staggering number of layoffs since 2022, and staffers are increasingly concerned about AI taking jobs away from the thousands still employed in the industry.
A Wired editorial published in June 2024 states, “Video games—and the people who make them—are in trouble,” referring to the state of the gaming industry amid the generative AI revolution.
While Sony has yet to comment on the leak, the aggressive action taken to copyright strike the YouTube video gives credence to its existence.
