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The ghost of Mr Clippit is apparently being revived for Microsoft’s new AI plans, which are also at the heart of its next gen console.
Rather than destroying all humans, the thing most people are worried about at the moment, when it comes to AI, is them destroying everyone’s jobs. Online and telephone service staff are at particular risk and apparently Microsoft is planning to rely almost entirely on AI when it comes to future customer support.
According to a new report, Microsoft is currently testing an ‘AI-powered Xbox chatbot’ that works as an ‘embodied AI character’ that ‘animates when responding to Xbox support queries’ – which sounds worryingly like the reviled Mr Clippit from the early 2000s.
The tests are apparently part of a wider goal to use AI for Xbox platform and services, which have already been widely criticised for making it difficult to speak to a human operator, rather than a virtual assistant.
Supposedly, the new Xbox AI chatbot is already connected to Xbox support documents and can also process game refunds.
The obvious problem is that not only is AI not a real person, that you can have an actual conversation with, but it’s notoriously unreliable and will quite happily make things up and state them as fact.
Presumably that’s something Microsoft is trying to ensure doesn’t happen, but it seems like a disaster waiting to happen – in terms of bad publicity if nothing else.
The news was first reported by The Verge, with Xbox later confirming that they are ‘testing an Xbox Support Virtual Agent’.
‘The prototype makes it easier and quicker for players to get help with support topics using natural language, taking information from existing Xbox Support pages,’ said a spokesperson.
According to The Verge, the chatbot is part of a wider push to use AI on Xbox and in game development.
This apparently includes AI-generated art and assets, game testing, and in-game characters.
The first two applications are highly controversial, since it can lead to further job losses, and yet the huge number of people needed to make modern triple-A games makes it a tempting prospect for many publishers.
Microsoft is also apparently experimenting with AI copilots for moderation and appeals processes, as well as in-game assistants that can help if you get stuck.
Some of these applications seem very welcome while others seem designed only to save Microsoft money, at the risk of an inferior service. But supposedly the company is aware that public perception is an issue and so they are moving ‘cautiously’.
At the same time, the boasts about the next gen Xbox console being ‘the largest technical leap’ ever seen is apparently based largely on AI, even if it’s still not clear exactly what kind of leap Microsoft is talking about.
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