Sony has shared its official stance on the use of artificial intelligence in PlayStation video game development. The company clarifies that AI is a support tool, not a substitute for human talent. Studios like Naughty Dog and Santa Monica already use Mockingbird, a software that accelerates facial animation from performance capture, reducing hours of work to seconds.
Mockingbird: The software that animates 3D models in record time 🚀
The Mockingbird tool processes performance capture data to generate facial animations on 3D models almost instantly. Tasks that previously required hours of manual adjustment are now completed in fractions of a second. Titles like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered have already benefited from this technology. Sony insists that the artistic vision and emotional design of the game remain the exclusive domain of human developers and artists.
Relax, artists: AI doesn't paint, it just moves the eyebrows 😅
So no, AI isn't going to write the next The Last of Us script or design the next open world. For now, its role is limited to saving animators hours of tedium. If anything, the day Mockingbird learns to make coffee and deal with crunch, then we'll really start to worry.