seriously bud her name's not that hard to remember

[sideways]

syntheid linked me to the video below, where people have used ChatGPT to create a fully voiced companion for Skyrim who responds to voice prompts.

Watch on YouTube

Have to say... I'm not into it T-T Even setting aside everything that is already troublesome about ChatGPT, even setting aside the reflexive grimaces every time the demonstrator here says something particularly Stereotypical Male Gamer (it is weirdly infuriating to me that this guy never does say her name right), I can't get past feeling like this defeats the purpose of having companion characters in games. Skyrim is perhaps not the best hill to die on in this respect, since most of the characters in it are very flat, but on a wider scale the companions that linger fondly in memory are those who are well-rounded characters in their own right; written with a personality and a deliberate purpose within the narrative. Herika seems to mostly alternate between snarky and fawning - there are no hints of any actual goals or history or deeper traits, at least within the scope of what's shown in the video.

It's not a total negative, of course - the fact the AI can react more responsively to the gear that's equipped, remember past enemy encounters in its commentary, and respond to vocal requests and orders in combat? Genuinely pretty cool. And there is a certain wistful dream inherent in the idea of actually having a conversation with a character that's a little more fluid than a wheel of pre-determined options. To get to push the limits on what can be realistically achieved with a static script.

Alas, I cannot escape the general crawling uneasiness of watching voice actors being already undervalued in cinema, where people have come to prioritise star power over professionals, and now threatened in this corner as well. ChatGPT is a ways off being enjoyably immersive or human yet, but one has to expect that technology will improve. Not into it! At least Oblivion came by its terrible voice acting honestly!

Comments

[i_wish_to_remain_nameless]

Alternating between snarky and fawning seems like a pretty standard tone for ChatGPT driven stuff. AI generated text tends to make my suspension of disbelief fall through after a while when it becomes obvious there's nobody on the other side of the writing. I only tend to find it interesting when it's in close collaboration with a person trying to steer it somewhere so it doesn't just ramble on pointlessly the whole time. I also feel like the newer models, while more coherent, tend to be somewhat less evocative because they don't make as many interesting mistakes.
I agree that it doesn't seem like a very encouraging time to be a creative right now.

[sideways]

AI generated text tends to make my suspension of disbelief fall through after a while when it becomes obvious there's nobody on the other side of the writing.

Agreed. Even if the AI doesn't make some weird goof (like Herika mispronouncing some words, or breaking the fourth wall to reference mods), there's still a sense of... hollowness to the conversation. For someone who'll get quickly and willingly attached to pixels under most circumstances, I haven't yet seen an AI conversation that made me feel for the imagined 'person' on the other side.

Yes, I don't think anyone was hoping for this outcome on the creative front. It's so frustrating to hear people were IMMEDIATELY spamming Clarkesworld and other magazines with AI generated stories, like the second people got their hands on a cheat they had to try it without a moment's pause to consider the consequences.