How AI can be used to create or contribute towards stories
As AI (Artificial Intelligence) is developing we have begun to see how people portray the concept of how AI could end up in the near future. Due to how society is reliant on escapism and immersion using AI and games it is no wonder that we have put them in our stories and twisted stories to involve some form of AI/ sci-fi robotics.
Often when we consider AI most people would think that we are relatively far off from getting anywhere near the advanced that we see within media today, however in reality our AI’s that we have are becoming advances with ChatGTP, Metahumans and so forth our reality could not be that far off some of the media that we see today.
'AI has been used in automated story production and game-mastering, which is the process of managing the player's experience in an interactive narrative on the fly. These techniques enable the narrative to be constructed dynamically in response to the player's in-game actions. As a result, human game designers must work harder to ensure that each conceivable narrative trajectory elicits the proper emotional response from the player.' (Hernandez, Bulitko and St. Hilaire, 2021)
Even though we are closer to the concept of having AI similar to that within Event[0] (ocelotsociety and itch.io, 2016) that is a system that we are to having fully fledged robotic AI machines it is becoming more of a possibility each day. Although we do not have that quite yet in reality it has been an element of a range of popularised stories within the media for many years. Despite not having this development within our technology or immersive products it still inspires fascinating stories involving what AI could become, whether that be Robots turning sentient, to AI systems becoming corrupt or even just technology that could replicate human behaviour/mannerisms to allow technology to gain humanity.
Whereas AI has developed a lot over the last several decades and has gone from a future construct into a real life tool that realistically could develop into a full fledged robot or system. AI is not only an effective tool within our everyday lives but has become an important part of the sci-fi genre. AI not only could help design or build branching narrative but could also be a design concept.
'We let the authors specify emotional “key frames” at certain narrative points.For instance, the author can specify that at a certain point into the game the player should be hopeful but also some-what afraid. Our AI system will then pick concrete narrative events which it expects will put the particular player in such an emotional state at the specified time.' (Hernandez, Bulitko and St. Hilaire, 2021)
In the narrative of Detroit-become-human (Quantic Dream, 2018) where the world has become so reliant on robotics and AI that we see different perspectives of how people perceive the machines and how some feel sympathetic, others using them as tools and some humans just flat out abusing them. However, we (the player) witness these machines become sentient and have emotions/ lives and start to overthrow society. This follows the idea of having specific key frames for emotional responses as they play with the audiences capacity for empathy and understanding where there are scenes such as the abuse of a child (who turned out to be a child robot: Alice, which you do not find out until much later in the narrative, but the storyline makes it so the audience would never lose empathy or compassion for her) character who is protected by the android, which is their to create an emotional response from the audience and get them to connect with the android/robots side when she becomes sentient to protect (what she believed was, and was programmed to see as, a living) child. This allowed the audience to connect with the robot's character, and this game is magnificent at exploiting these key frames through the gameplay. But not only does the game apply this the characters themselves as AI’s also use the idea of picking up the environment and creating an emotional state from the context of each situation, similar to that of which humans do.
Other games also use this key theory to provoke emotion and use the idea of having key frames or moments to emphasise situations to provoke particular emotions and this is often done to immerse the audience and keep them engaged within the story’s plot. But doing this with an AI system might become more and more common as technology advances, especially with the way that it has evolved within the last several decades.
This concept is something that we are working towards in our society and the fact that it is depicted as such allows the concept of AI to become less of a futuristic concept and more of a very realistic reality that we are working towards a society that could easily become as addicted or dependant on AI/Robots as we are with our phones. This could have as many benefits as it could disadvantages, which is demonstrated as a subplot within many game storylines such as within Observer and Detroit Become Human.
Specific Case Study : Observer (Bloober Team, 2017)
The case study that I specifically am focusing on is Observer (Bloober Team, 2017). Observer is set in the relatively distant future, in the year 2084. Set in a grim cyberpunk setting that is devastated by plagues and wars, within this you play as a neural police detective and hack into the jagged minds of others. Utilising anything they felt, thought, or recalled in order to solve the case and apprehend the unknown killer.
Specific key theory: Can the use of AI or technology influence a storyline?
This concept theory within Observer shows exactly how technology and AI’s can be completely interlinked into society that people implant technology within their bodies and has become so advanced intertwined with humanity itself that people have access to others minds, environments and other technology within the world. We, the player, get to see what technology can make a city and how cybernetworks could be so developed that it is heavily integrated into society that being a person with no technical enhancements becomes a rarity to see within everyday life.
As Observer is an 'AI-based play experience’ the storyline often involves the idea that centres a particular set of aesthetic and technical goals surrounding using technology to uncover more of the story and advance forwards in the narrative. (Kreminski et al., 2021) So, if you involve AI as a main aspect of the mise-en-scene or gameplay in general then often it will have a big impact on the storyline, genre and aesthetic of the narrative.
As within this game it almost becomes obvious that technology is so advanced and relied upon that it will evidently be that the ‘‘AI revolution' is far reaching as intelligent machines may become our “final invention” that may end human supremacy’ (Makridakis, 2017). The Observer touches upon this several times with how they incorporated technology and even demonstrates that people have enhanced themselves so much and so desperately that there is no humanity or life left, they are just a system of wires or code.
Retrofuturism is the future as envisioned by the past (The Retrofuturist, 2023) and the style of this is incorporated throughout the gameplay of observer with old technology and language in a world surrounded by enhanced technology, humans combined with different forms of technology within themselves; cyborgs, but the whole style of the game plays with this idea and visuals of retrofuturism throughout the environments and people. As this is also a massive aspect of the aesthetic it plays into many subtle parts of the narrative that you often would not think about when the concept of having retro aesthetics in a highly futuristic styled environment.
Throughout the story the concept of class through your technological enhancements plays into the theory of this AI revolution that is promising even greater improvements in productivity and further expansion in wealth (Makridakis, 2017), with the more technology you have the wealthier you often appear. The overall ‘societal impact of the digital revolution has been significant as it has affected most aspects of our lives and work' not only applies to us today but also to this narrative, implying that AI and technology (at least within this storyline) has a huge influence on the overall portrayal of the game and with how you interact with each character.
Conclusion:
To conclude, AI is starting to become a part of our everyday technology and will most likely end up with us becoming more reliant on it as technology advances within the future. There are many people that use AI and robotics to add to or make a particular point, plot or environment; this is done so often, using these concepts, it has become a sub-genre as well as a subplot within many different stories. As it has become popularised so has theories around technology whether it is that AI is going to take over humanity or that retrofuturism is becoming more natural within our stories/worlds, such as within Event[0]. It is no wonder we have become reliant on technology, especially with how quickly we see it developing today in our lives.
References:
Bloober Team (2017). Bloober Team — >observer_. [online] Bloober Team. Available at: https://www.blooberteam.com/observer_ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2023].
CINEMATIC GAMING (2018). DETROIT BECOME HUMAN - CHLOE’s All Main Menu Quotes & Dialogues (including survey). [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://youtu.be/eNTUhKs_xwQ?si=B1ilxmSQbsB3Xmkz [Accessed 7 Dec. 2023].
Hernandez, S.P., Bulitko, V. and St. Hilaire, E. (2021). Proceedings of the Tenth Annual AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE 2014)146. Emotion-Based Interactive Storytelling with Artificial Intelligence, [online] 10(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.1609/aiide.v10i1.12721.
Kasunic, A. and Kaufman, G. (2018). Learning to Listen: Critically Considering the Role of AI in Human Storytelling and Character Creation. [online] doi:https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/w18-1501.
Kreminski, M., Dickinson, M., Mateas, M. and Wardrip-Fruin, N. (2021). Why Are We Like This?: Exploring Writing Mechanics for an AI-Augmented Storytelling Game. [online] Available at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2020/asynchronous/proceedingspapers/10/.
Kumar, A. (2022). Gamification in training with next generation AI- virtual reality, animation design and immersive technology. Journal of Experimental & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, pp.1–14. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/0952813x.2022.2125080.
Makridakis, S. (2017). The forthcoming Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution: Its impact on society and firms. Futures, [online] 90(90), pp.46–60. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2017.03.006.
Ocelotsociety and itch.io (2016). Event[0] by Ocelot Society. [online] itch.io. Available at: https://ocelotsociety.itch.io/event0 [Accessed 6 Dec. 2023].
Ocelot Society (2016). Event[0] on Steam. [online] Steampowered.com. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/470260/Event0/ [Accessed 7 Dec. 2023].
PlayStation (2017). Observer - The Year is 2084 Trailer | PS4. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://youtu.be/cvK4l-nvWwI?si=eDI29TO5-OiEnr0J [Accessed 9 Dec. 2023].
Quantic Dream (2018). Detroit: Become Human | Official Site | Quantic Dream. [online] www.quanticdream.com. Available at: https://www.quanticdream.com/en/detroit-become-human [Accessed 7 Dec. 2023].
The Retrofuturist (2023). What is Retrofuturism? [online] The Retrofuturist. Available at: https://theretrofuturist.com/what-is-retrofuturism/ [Accessed 13 Dec. 2023].
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