This GTA 5 story mod shows the wild potential - and problems - of AI-powered NPC conversations
What if you could patrol the streets of Los Santos in Grand Theft Auto 5 and freely speak to the inhabitants? And what if they could actually talk back to you with authentic-feeling custom dialogue?
That's the aim of Sentient Streets, a new story-based GTA 5 mod by veteran mod creator Bloc, available now on NexusMods.
In it, players take on the role of a rookie cop investigating a conspiracy in Los Santos concerning the rise of AI. Back in real life, meanwhile, it's AI that powers the mod's conversations with NPCs throughout the world.
«I always had the idea of creating a virtual world like GTA, but a version where you can also interact and talk with NPCs like real people,» Bloc told Eurogamer. He's previously worked on mods for Bannerlord and Skyrim that utilised AI-powered Large Language Models (LLMs), before seeing complaints about the technology's future.
«LLMs in games [have been called] a 'gimmick' since all you could do was talk to the characters and that was it,» Bloc continued. «I disagreed with that idea, but just disagreeing wasn't enough. So I wanted to prove it.»
Bloc plays on a fear of AI in the mod's story, as the player takes on a deadly cult worshipping an unseen AI. In the process, they'll have open-ended conversations in real-time with around 30 AI NPCs.
«Hopefully, with this mod, I was able to demonstrate that using AI in video games doesn't necessarily mean complete randomness and unpredictable gameplay and games who want to tell a story can also use LLMs to enrich their storytelling with unique roleplaying experiences for the players.»
NPC conversations found in Sentient Streets are powered by Inworld's Character Engine, with Bloc able to use several features in early access. Inworld is a
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