If one thing's been abundantly clear over the last year, it's that Sony and Microsoft are both champing at the bit to work AI features into the next generation of consoles. And now, Sony has filed another patent that would use AI to train NPCs based on data generated by you, the player.

This new patent, called "AI-adapted non-player character for video game system," describes a process of taking data generated from playing a game and then using it to modify NPCs in order to make them more lifelike.

But unlike Nvidia's ACE program, which uses a large language model to essentially script NPC dialogue, Sony's proposed system could change everything about an NPC, from its design to its behavior in, say, a boss fight. Sony asserts that this is necessary to create more lifelike games, without bloating development time and budgets even more than they already are.

The patent says that "developing such believable NPCs is challenging due to limitations of modern game development and often relies extensive scripting and programming. Additionally, NPC development often relies on sophisticated systems and extensive resources to track, animate, and evolve NPC behaviors. In a typical development environment, NPC management often utilizes costly and efficient rendering engines, simulation engines, and scalable systems capable of supporting increasingly detailed virtual environments and lifelike NPC interactions."

The solution, according to this patent, is to use AI to do most of this work. It continues, "The techniques described herein overcome the foregoing challenges and others by providing an artificial intelligence (AI)-adapted NPC.

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