It’s the end of 2022, and this year has been to some extent revolutionary for AI. Well at least in the media. There has been plenty of buzz around generative AI models. In simplicity, these models are primarily here to create “new” content. Now I purposely put new in brackets as many people don’t realize 2 facts.
First, these methods have been around for some time, it’s just that someone has been brave enough to invest in an enormous amount of computation and labor to achieve the results we are seeing on social media.
Second, the content that these models create isn’t entirely new, but a mere reflection of our own creativity. Machine learning models use our generated data to learn how to create new content but they aren’t able to go beyond that.
The definition of creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something. That doesn't mean these models aren’t useful. History has shown that such technologies can be disruptive to an industry. Let’s take a look at professional translations. It’s not that long ago we saw similar excitement with neural network based translation models among practitioners. While these models promised increased efficiency and higher profits, the reality was that many top-level professional translators saw their margins decrease as they were viewed more as proofreaders than as creative professionals. It is important for us as AI professionals to be mindful of these limitations and to understand the potential impacts of these technologies on different industries.
Generative AI will also be part of game development. Like it or not. In fact, the adoption has accelerated in the last 2 years. Just look at the Siggraph conference and how many AI related papers are being submitted. There are potential applications in the creation of game content, such as levels, characters, or dialogue. Another exciting topic is the creation of personalized game experiences. For example, a generative AI model could be used to create unique game scenarios or challenges based on a player's skills, preferences, and playstyle. This could lead to a more engaging and immersive gaming experience for players.
I believe that the game experience is what we should focus on when we bring these powerful AI models to the game industry. And to me, this is about supercharging creativity by giving creative people tools to go faster and make more iterations. Kapnetix is creating models for motion capture because digitizing movement accurately makes a great game experience. We first need to automate the non-creative work so that the creative work can have focus and stand out. This belief is reflected in our mission statement:
“Our mission is to help VFX professionals focus on creativity and create the experiences we fall in love with”
