Prior to the Game Developers Conference (GDC), Xbox revealed on Thursday that it was experimenting with its AI-powered gaming companion.
Powered by Microsoft’s AI technology, Copilot for Gaming is a voice-activated assistant designed to improve your gaming experience, designed to answer questions, complete tasks, and criticize if you’re not playing.
“If that’s what you need, you can tell you,” said Fatima Kardar, corporate vice president of Gaming AI at Microsoft, in an episode of Xbox’s official podcast released Thursday.
During briefings with the media, the company demonstrated several use cases, including providing real-time tips.
You even see past character selections on a particular map. AI can also advise you on the next move to win the battle and how to improve in future encounters.
Xbox will partner with Game Studios to ensure that the AI response is accurate as information found on the internet can be misleading or outdated, Kardar explained. This means that asking Copilot for help in the game (not letting you cheat) will provide you with the correct information.
Additionally, you can notify them when their friends are online and ask if they’ll jump into the game together. However, if your friend is offline, the co-pilot will act as a companion adapting to your gameplay style.
Other small tasks that AI can handle include reminding you of what happened in the final gaming session, installing the game for you, and recommending new titles based on your preferences.
Currently, Copilot for gaming is only available through the Xbox mobile app and is raised as the second screen while playing the game. Xbox plans to improve features based on user feedback.
Other companies exploring video game AI agents include Google and Sony, among others. For example, last year, Google Deepmind researchers developed Sima, a gameplay buddy that allows users to play and give instructions. The Sony PlayStation is reportedly working on a version of Aloy powered by AI, a character from the video game Horizon Forbidden West, according to Verge.