How generative AI is changing game development (and UGC)

Artificial intelligence has been a fundamental part of games for decades. It’s neither a new nor revolutionary part of game development. However, generative AI is a new tool in developer’s arsenals. Proponents say GenAI has the capacity to revolutionize game development — but the technology also has fierce critics.

Typically AI is most commonly used in games to generate in-game behaviors in non-player characters (NPCs) or new environments in a procedurally-generated games (e.g., roguelikes). Generative AI, on the other hand, adds several new use cases for the technology from the earliest phases of a game’s development.