Microsoft plans to add a virtual chatbot to its Xbox gaming console. This concerns a chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to assist with customer service. Consider, for example, questions that people have about purchases, or even helping to give money back on game purchases that people are not satisfied with.
Xbox AI chatbot
It is no surprise that Xbox comes up with something like this, although it is a somewhat brave choice. How cool would it be if you could also use that AI chatbot when you’re stuck in a game, or when you just want to know what your friends are playing. That’s when an AI chatbot really comes in handy. It reminds us of the time when you could call a helpline from your landline and get advice on how to progress in a game: the time before the internet, before walkthroughs and YouTube videos.
In return for The Verge people say that the software giant is testing an AI chatbot that will mainly answer fairly simple customer service questions. However, it would become a kind of character, giving it a little more personality. It is currently being tested internally and is still a prototype, but it is coming for gamers. “We’re testing an Xbox Support Virtual Agent, an internal prototype of an animated character that can query Xbox Support topics with voice or text,” said Xbox game AI lead Haiyan Zhang. “The prototype makes it easier and faster for players to get help with support topics using natural language, pulling information from existing Xbox Support pages.”
AI NPCs
In short, it is mainly a way to give Xbox’s support pages a different shape and that is a shame. Artificial intelligence could do a lot more. Maybe Microsoft is doing it for security reasons and doesn’t want to just grab all the information from the internet, but it still feels like there is a gap here. Especially because Microsoft’s Bing search engine, for example, is now imbued with AI. Yet there is hope: There would also be more AI options for content creation around games. This concerns, for example, AI art for games, AI game testing and generative AI NPCs. AI is therefore starting to make its appearance more and more clearly in games (although it has of course been around for much longer, but less out in the open). Microsoft is also said to be looking at AI moderation to keep things fun in the communities.
So Microsoft is busy with AI and in many ways. The AI chatbot is certainly not the most exciting invention, but there is a lot more AI coming to the Xbox gaming world and that promises to be interesting. Certainly not always good, but knowing the average NPC, a little AI will probably do wonders in a positive way.
