Leaked Footage Reveals Sony Dipping Its Toes into AI Hellscape, and Nope, We’re Still Not Interested

Tech companies are absolutely desperate for you to get excited about AI. From Nvidia’s AI-powered ACE technology to Xbox’s environment-generating Muse, every major player in the industry is vying for a slice of the AI pie. And now, Sony has decided to throw its hat into the ring. But if recent leaks are anything to go by, their attempt isn’t exactly setting the world on fire.

An internal video obtained by The Verge shows a rather lifeless version of Aloy from Horizon Forbidden West engaging in an AI-generated conversation with Sony software engineering director Sharwin Raghoebardajal. The video, originally shared by an anonymous source, has since been taken down by copyright enforcement company Muso, which lists Sony Interactive Entertainment as a client.

In the footage, Raghoebardajal interacts with an AI-driven Aloy, who responds with synthesized speech and automated facial movements. Notably, the character doesn’t appear to use the voice of Ashly Burch, the original actress for Aloy, but rather an artificial voice model. According to The Verge’s Tom Warren, the tech demo utilizes OpenAI’s Whisper for speech-to-text processing, GPT-4 and Llama 3 for conversation generation, Sony’s own Emotional Voice Synthesis (EVS) for speech, and their proprietary Mockingbird technology for facial animation.

“This is just the beginning of AI!”

Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it all before. “Just wait a few years, it’ll get so much better!” Honestly? No one cares. The novelty of talking to an NPC that spits out open-ended, AI-generated responses is already stale. If this reminds you of those chatbots from the early 2000s that were cool for exactly one minute, you’re not alone.

What makes this whole situation even more tragically ironic is Sony’s choice of character for their AI showcase. Aloy, from a franchise built around the downfall of civilization due to unchecked technological ambition, is now the poster child for AI-driven interactions. It’s almost poetic—if it weren’t so absurd.

Here’s an idea, Sony: scrap this whole thing. In an industry where thousands of talented creatives lose their jobs every year, wouldn’t it make more sense to invest in actual human artists and developers? Instead of machines trying (and failing) to mimic genuine human interaction, how about fostering creativity the old-fashioned way—with real people?

Unless, of course, you find something like Mecha Break dialogue compelling. In which case, by all means, carry on. Just don’t expect anyone to be particularly thrilled about it.