A survey conducted about a year ago found that 31% of game developers were already using generative AI in some way. I bet that percentage has gone up significantly since then.
We know Valve uses it: Fletcher Dunn, an engineer who has been at Valve for over a decade, posts his “ChatGPT wins” on X, speaking today that OpenAI’s vast language model is an “amazing” tool.
Dunn more or less uses ChatGPT as an advanced search engine, and an interaction that blew him away recently was when he described a hypothetical type of algorithm he wanted to utilize in Valve’s MOBA shooter, Deadlock, and received an exact recommendation on how to truly match the algorithm’s specifications. According to Dunn, the algorithm recommended by ChatGPT is currently used in matchmaking at Deadlock.
“I will continue to post my ChatGPT wins because this thing continues to amaze me and I think some skeptics don’t understand how amazing this tool is,” he wrote. “A few days ago, we changed the matchmaking hero selection in Deadlock to the Hungarian algorithm. I found it using ChatGPT.”
Dunn admits he could have found the same answer by using the appropriate Google search terms, but he says he didn’t have to: ChatGPT immediately returned what he was looking for, even though he described it vaguely.
“Find me that thing I don’t know the search terms for but I’ll try to describe it is just a *killer* app,” he said. he said in response for another poster. “If something is wrong or you are hallucinating (which sometimes happens), you will realize it pretty quickly.”
I will continue to post my ChatGPT wins because this thing continues to amaze me and I think there are a few skeptics out there who don’t understand how amazing this tool is. A few days ago, we changed Deadlock’s matchmaking champion selection to a Hungarian algorithm. I found this using ChatGPT pic.twitter.com/dyLPDPyBJ8October 2, 2024
This utilize of ChatGPT confirms something I suspected when I covered this survey in January: that the scattered utilize of generative AI to create final video game graphics or replace voice actors is actually the tip of the iceberg. I believe developers are mainly using generative AI in ways we won’t see directly, such as using ChatGPT as a search engine, for writing code or as an administration tool, or using image generators in conceptual stages.
In January Steam added a rule that developers must disclose the utilize of generative AI when submitting their games, and most of this information is displayed to consumers on store pages. None of Valve’s games contain disclosures related to Steam’s generative AI, including Deadlock. Using ChatGPT as a natural language search engine probably doesn’t count as something that requires disclosure, although Valve’s policies require developers to disclose “any type of content (graphics/code/sound/etc.) created using AI tools during development.”
Dunn isn’t sure ChatGPT will remain as useful as he currently thinks it is. At the beginning of September predicted that we are in the “golden age of ChatGPT” and that LLM opportunities will decline as training data is lost to copyright challenges or becomes contaminated with its own results. For now, though, Dunn says he’s permanently keeping ChatGPT open in a Chrome tab.
“I’m kind of conflicted because it often replaces asking the question to another human IRL, or at least tweeting it to the virtual Braintrust” – he said. “I think it’s good (the whole point?), but it’s just another way for computers to replace human interaction.”
ChatGPT creator OpenAI just raised an incredible $6.6 billion in a novel round of funding because, as AP reportsmoves further towards generating profits. The company claims it is novel ChatGPT model o1 can “reason” through problems.
