Game Developers thoughts on AI in games

I'm a game developer who has been in the industry both professionally and independently for about 5 years now. Lately, I've seen loads of gamers opinions on where AI belongs in games, and I thought I'd weigh in as someone inside the industry. I'm not going to focus on the ethics or morals in this post; I think that's its own conversation.

First, I'd like to give a little context for my work:

Professionally, I've worked inside Unreal Engine, primarily focused on improving the engine for real time graphics. I've also built a few Unreal Engine Fortnite experiences for companies.

After I left the professional space, I became an indie game developer, and started making Tome of Talis. If you'd like to check it out, here is a link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4217650/Tome_of_Talis_A_Dice_Conquest_Game/

I've made a lot of friends in the industry, from a AAA head of art to interns that sat next to me. Many of my thoughts were built upon conversations I had with them.

Now for the thoughts:

1. No matter how perfect the art, sound, or writing of AI gets, The second consumers become aware they are consuming AI generated content almost universally they "tune out." No matter what AI techbros say, players want to experience games that feel full of life and meaning. There isn't anything passionate about AI generated content.

2. Some cool new ideas are beginning to appear that only work with AI. For example, the Skyrim mod that lets NPCs talk to you is really neat. I believe that games using AI in ways no other method could achieve will find some pretty big success. That being said, AI won't ever replace good writing and hand built content.

3. Documentation searching: This is an example I can personally vouch for. I do not recommend trying to "vibe code" with AI, it almost always leads to trouble down the line. However, using AI as a way to quickly understand documentation (especially when there isn't much) is invaluable.

Thanks to AI, I can confidently say I've improved dramatically faster in areas I'm weaker in, such as shaders. I'd like to reiterate though, I would never recommend just copying and pasting code.

4. Most game developers aren't overly keen on using AI for everything. Obviously it varies from person to person, but at every game company I've been at, the push for AI has always been from the top. It makes sense, CEOs and other high level managers are promised massive increases in work speed with no downsides, of course they want to push it.

What they don't see is the neverending bugs programmers are struggling with, the weirdly rigged messes artists grapple around, and uninspired musical beats. Trying to leverage AI as heavily as leaders want just leads to huge messes that need cleaning up.

TL;DR: I believe that using AI for in game content is a fools errand that loses trust among players, but AI can help developers a lot when used as a tool for learning and documentation.

I'd love to hear any of your thoughts in the comments!