Ubisoft has recently unveiled their new AI writing tool, Ghostwriter, which has caused a stir in the gaming industry. However, Ben Swanson, a researcher at Ubisoft La Forge, shed light on the tool’s features and clarified that it still requires human input.
During the Game Developers Conference, Swanson explained that Ghostwriter is primarily used to generate “barks,” which are lines spoken by non-playable characters (NPCs) in games. The tool is not intended for cinematics or lore.
Swanson outlined four key purposes of Ghostwriter. Firstly, it generates lines based on an NPC’s motivation. For instance, if the NPC has been kidnapped, the tool may suggest a line like “there’s no way I’m getting out of this.” Secondly, the tool generates numerous lines for crowds, which were previously created by human writers. Thirdly, Ghostwriter creates “double act” dialogue between two NPCs, such as a conversation between a thug and a police officer. Finally, the tool creates multiple variations of the same line, which can be used multiple times in a game.
Swanson emphasized that Ghostwriter was developed to address the “pain points” of the writing process, not to replace human writers. When the tool generates lines, writers can choose to accept or reject them, allowing Ghostwriter to improve its responses in the future.
Despite this, many game developers have criticized the tool, calling for the industry to invest in human writers. However, Swanson believes that Ghostwriter will ultimately benefit writers by reducing the time they spend on mundane tasks, allowing them to focus on more important aspects of game development.
