Sony is working on a prototype of an AI-enabled character that can converse with players



This article, originally posted in Japanese on 10:39 Mar 11, 2025, may contains some machine-translated parts.
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It has been reported that Sony is working on technology to integrate AI into game characters, using Aloy, the protagonist of

Horizon Forbidden West .

Sony is experimenting with AI-powered PlayStation characters | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/news/626695/sony-playstation-ai-characters-aloy-horizon-forbidden-west-prototype

Sony Uses Horizon's Aloy To Demonstrate New AI Tech, And It's About As Impressive As You'd Expect - GameSpot
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-uses-horizons-aloy-to-demonstrate-new-ai-tech-and-its-about-as-impressive-as-youd-expect/1100-6530023/

Technology media outlet The Verge received a video of the AI-enabled Aloy from an anonymous source.

The video in question is narrated by Sherwin Lagovardajjal, director of software engineering for AI and facial technology at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), and demonstrates an AI-enabled version of Aloy.



This Aloy listened to Lagovardajjal's voice and spoke with him, making gestures such as moving her face. Specifically, she greeted him with 'Hello,' spoke about Aloy's own feelings based on the in-game setting, and explained where she was in the game.

'This is just a prototype developed with Guerrilla Games, created to demonstrate our technology internally,' Lagovardajjal explained in the video. He said that the company uses OpenAI's

Whisper for voice synthesis, both GPT-4 and Llama 3 for conversation and decision-making, has a proprietary Emotional Voice Synthesis system built in for voice synthesis, and uses Sony's proprietary Mockingbird technology for facial animations linked to voice.

Click on the image below to see Aloy's AI-driven movements.



The demo was run on a PC, but experiments are also being conducted to run some of the actions directly on the PlayStation 5.

The Verge published the video on YouTube, but it was subsequently removed following a complaint from Muso, a copyright clearance company that claims SIE is a client.

The Verge pointed out that 'Questions arise as to whether it makes sense to talk to Aloy and what impact such technology will have on voice actors and game developers. ' In the gaming industry, there has been a growing backlash against AI, with 31 voice actors for 'Apex Legends' just refusing to sign a contract to have AI learn their voices.

The Verge added, 'Ahead of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Sony's experiment with an AI-powered character is sure to spark further discussion about the role of AI in video game production. Sony did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the leaked internal company video. We've reached out again to see whether it was Sony that took down the video and whether they have any further comment.'

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