Generative AI tools got a warm, if cautious welcome at DICE 2023
It's 2023, and generative AI is the hot buzzword of the year. Tools like Midjourney and ChatGPT began bubbling to the surface of popular usage in 2022, and now that we're well into the new year, everyone from Microsoft to Google to Meta is making a hard play at selling these tools.
After two years of blockchain obsession, the game industry's venture capital class seems to have quickly pivoted to a fixation on how these tools could be used to make games better, faster. However hyperbolic their claims get, it's hard to deny that they have a point. Some tasks in game development take a painfully long time, and the industry has long embraced software and game engines that can speed up those processes.
A gathering like DICE 2023 was the perfect chance to check in on how industry leaders and top creatives in the field feel about the technology, and to our surprise, the vibes were mostly...good? Developers at companies of all shapes and sizes expressed enthusiasm for what generative AI tools could accomplish, and also expressed a healthy amount of moderation.
By now the legal questions about using tools like Midjourney have bubbled to the surface, and if nothing else, it seems that developers want to make sure they're not stealing anyone else's work when they're using these programs.
The overall tone felt markedly different from our visit in 2022, when opinions on blockchain technology in games ranged from hype-fueled fever dreams to outright hostility. This year, talk of blockchain became an almost literal punchline, while general conversation pivoted to the question of generative AI.
There were plenty more conversations between folks with different opinions this year, and a hesitancy to go all-in on technology without
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