Microsoft Isn’t Forcing Xbox Teams to Use AI in Game Development, Says Phil Spencer
With Microsoft’s major push toward artificial intelligence, many assumed it would also have a significant impact on video game development. However, according to Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Gaming, the company is not mandating the use of AI for Xbox teams.
Speaking at the Paley International Council Summit alongside Tim Schafer, head of Double Fine, Spencer explained that the use of AI is not required and that generative AI is not being applied to creative areas.
Microsoft’s heavy investment in artificial intelligence had led many to believe it would be widely used in game production. These assumptions intensified after the mass layoffs that occurred last summer, which affected over 9,000 employees—including those in the Xbox division.
AI Is Currently Used in Operational, Not Creative Areas
Spencer clarified that AI is indeed being used, but mainly in areas unrelated to creativity. “Our applications of AI today are mostly actually on the security and protection of our networks,” he said.
He explained, “It’s now at a scale where you can’t really moderate the safety of those with just people alone. The volume is too high. So we have AI that we use to make sure the conversation and topics that are happening, and for protected child accounts, and other things and who gets to talk to those accounts to those people, is locked down by parents or guardians who are setting those controls. That’s our primary use of AI inside of our organization today, which maybe isn’t the most glamorous use of AI, but it’s something that I fundamentally believe in.”
According to Spencer, this kind of security management is currently the main way Xbox uses AI. He explained that while it might not be the most exciting application, Microsoft considers it an important and necessary use of the technology.
“I have found that creative teams will use tools that make their job easier when it makes their job easier, and any top-down mandate that ‘Thou must use a certain tool…’ is not really a path to success. I look at the teams, and we make tools available, and I kind of let it organically percolate,” Spencer further explained.
“Our AI use today is much more operational than it is in the creative space,” he concluded, referring specifically to the game development process at Xbox Game Studios.
In related news, former PlayStation executive thinks AI in gaming is overrated, comparing its usefulness to developers with Excel for accountants.
