While it may seem like all the fuss about artificial intelligence is a recent phenomenon thanks to endless commentary shared daily on social media about ChatGPT and similar chatbots, the concept has been around for nearly 70 years. Originally coined by computer scientist John McCarthy in 1956 during his tenure at MIT, the term has since inspired researchers, scientists, writers, and creators of every kind of entertainment imaginable. The notion of machines being able to “think” goes back even further, with its first appearance in cinema being German director Fritz Lang’s 1927 depiction of a dystopian future in his movie Metropolis.
Given its apparent ubiquity in current popular culture, and its longstanding ties to the ways we’ve collectively described characters’ behavior in video games, there’s a lot to talk about right now. AI is unquestionably the buzzword topic of the moment, easily overshadowing recent tech bro hypegasms like NFTs, blockchain, and the Metaverse, but it's also influencing change in every facet of what IGN covers each day, from games to movies and television.
We tend to hear a lot of scary stories about what AI means for the future. There’s fear of the jobs it could eliminate, fear of the speed at which it adapts and “learns”, or even fear of how it's unable to adequately process the inanity of social media, leading it to threaten to dox people as a result. While some of that discomfort is justified, there’s also a lot to be excited about. AI has the potential to unlock creativity, empower people that lack the technical skills to achieve things they’ve previously only dreamed of, and create virtual experiences that feel more real than ever before.
Over the next week we’ll have stories and videos every day exploring the way that AI is impacting games and entertainment with input from researchers, creative leaders, scientists, and developers all far cleverer than I. We’ll talk to people from Epic Games, Sony, CD Projekt Red, and Roblox. We’ll explore how AI can transform game development, how it can improve accessibility , how gamers are using it to create their own role-playing games, and how it could reshape television to create an infinite amount of content. We’ll share AI projects you can try for yourself right now, examine how AI is changing the animation business , and how it may eventually affect games criticism. We’ll also remember the most evil and malevolent AIs in movie and TV history.
There’ll be new content every day this week. You can find the schedule below, and we'll be continually updating our hub with all of the articles and videos throughout the week.