The Future of AI and Storytelling in Games
Kylan Gibbs, the chief product officer and co-founder of Inworld AI, recently gave a compelling talk at the TED 2024 conference. In his talk, Gibbs shared his vision for the future of AI and storytelling in games. He discussed how AI agents, enabled by Inworld, have the potential to transform stories from scripted narratives to immersive worlds that the audience can co-create in video games and other interactive experiences. This transformation will have a significant impact on various industries such as entertainment, advertising, publishing, and gaming.
Gibbs began his talk by reflecting on his childhood love for immersing himself in fantastical worlds. Whether it was playing with action figures, engaging in role-playing games like Final Fantasy or Halo, or reading books like Lord of the Rings, he always wanted to take on a more creative role in shaping the stories and worlds he loved. He wanted to go beyond being a passive observer and have the ability to interact with his favorite characters in a meaningful way.
According to Gibbs, the current gaming experience often leaves players feeling that something is missing. While games may offer immersive environments, they lack dynamic and social forms of interaction with characters and environments. AI has the potential to change that. By leveraging AI agents, games can offer real-time responsiveness where every action has immediate and lasting consequences based on the choices each player makes.
One example of AI-driven storytelling is Inworld’s collaboration with Operative Games to create an interactive experience called Storyweaver. The goal of Storyweaver is to replicate the experience Gibbs wished he had as a child – the ability to interact immersively with his toys. In this demo, players meet a character named Calub who brings their old action figures to life through AI. The AI agents in Storyweaver not only allow players to talk to their favorite characters but also enable those characters to act autonomously, displaying their own personalities, interests, goals, and emotions. They can interact naturally with the environment, providing a depth and realism that enhances the storytelling experience.
Gibbs emphasized that AI agents do not replace human creativity but rather augment it. While AI can’t autonomously create a fully-realized story or world without the input of a creative director or narrative designer, it opens up entirely new ways of storytelling. The combination of human imagination and AI allows for the creation of richer narratives where the audience has the power to co-create their own story. Choices made by the players have meaningful consequences within the story, while still remaining grounded in a coherent narrative true to the author’s vision.
The future of storytelling, according to Gibbs, will not only make childhood dreams of interacting with beloved characters a reality but also give individuals the opportunity to participate in the creation of the story in unprecedented ways. Having narrative agency over experiences has been shown to increase enjoyment and engagement in interactive experiences. AI has the potential to create novel interactive experiences across various domains, from movies to education and brand activations. This new form of storytelling allows narratives to be lived rather than just told, with each interaction leading to unique and memorable outcomes.
Gibbs acknowledged that it is still early days for AI-driven storytelling but highlighted glimpses of the future seen in experiences like Droid Maker, Wol, Covert Protocol, AR sommelier, and NEO NPCs. These examples demonstrate the potential for AI to enhance storytelling and create dynamic worlds that captivate audiences.
Inworld AI is actively working on AI tools that integrate with popular game engines. They collaborate with game studios, entertainment companies, advertising agencies, and brands to help them harness the power of AI agents for the next generation of interactive media and games. By extending human creative potential with AI, Inworld aims to push the boundaries of storytelling and create immersive experiences that captivate audiences.
If you’re interested in exploring the potential of interactive storytelling with AI agents, Inworld offers tools like the Inworld Studio for designing characters and provides custom plans, development, and support for various use cases. The future of storytelling is here, and it’s being shaped by the fusion of human imagination and AI technology.