Major concern rises about artificial intelligence, the recent booming trend of artificial personality video game let’s plays, and AI used for data collection and marketing purposes. Also, recent controversy surrounding David Cage’s video game studio Quantic Dreams following allegations of harrassment and sub-par working conditions and culture in the studio.
Kizuna Ai is a vastly growing Youtube channel build by an anonymous creator in which an anime-style 3D girl does Let’s Plays of various popular games. Meanwhile programs like VRChat are taking off and allowing users to explore vast worlds and take on various forms in complete anonymity.
Is this dangerous? Are there repercussions? Or is it just the next logical step for various interactions, gaming media, and interface? The panelists discuss the dangers and problems of this new trend as well as the unique opportunities and positives involved in this new field of anonymity.
Meanwhile, corporate documents recently surfaced that show a willing invasiveness on the part of developers and publishers in using collected user data to market more individually to audiences using advanced AI software that learns user behaviors and patterns and applies the data to targeted promotions.
The panel discusses whether these leaked documents have any true validity, whether the idea is viable, and to what degree that information is being collected and used by companies in video games and everyday life. Moreover, GTL discusses whether or not there are any positive aspects to this kind of research, building experiences that cater to users rather than just informing invasive penny-pinching.
Finally, Quantic Dreams, the David Cage-led studio behind Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and the upcoming Detroit: Become Human, has become a hotbed of controversy over reports that the office environment is toxic with racist and misogynistic mistreatment of employees. David Cage went on the defense against the allegations, claiming in an interview that audiences should “judge [him] by [his] work”. Is that answer justified? If the games are good, can the abuse be overlooked?
The panel takes Cage’s defense to task, calling him out for claiming the quality of his games as a defense against allowing office abuse. Furthermore, they question his use of personalities like Ellen Page to deflect from criticism. The panel considers various recent celebrity examples of abuse and mistreatment throughout Hollywood and whether the clout or power of Cage may have influenced the abusive conditions in his studio.
The show has wrapped up for today, but you can check out the entire discussion in the video above.
