The Horizon Zero Dawn series serves as a warning against the careless use of AI and the pursuit of technical improvement at the cost of all else. That’s why fans of the games find it very ironic Sony used protagonist Aloy to show off its new AI-powered character prototypes. Spoilers ahead.
“The entire game is a warning against this kind of nonsense,” writes one fan on Reddit. “The irony of this …. hits so hard,” replies another. In the original Horizon Zero Dawn, you find out the world was destroyed by a rogue AI that creates self-replicating robots that feed on organic matter. Now, I’m not saying that’s what Sony’s AI-powered Aloy is, but it certainly seems strange that the company is investing time and money into something very few players actually seem to want.
One Redditor notes, “The point [of Horizon] is not ‘AI is bad,'” it’s that misusing AI is bad. I like the idea of AI ordering my shopping for me and finding me a cheaper energy or internet provider, but I think replacing artists with algorithms is not good.
“Oh cool, the main character from hit game ‘don’t replace humans with AI’ is now replacing the cast with AI. I love it here,” writes one person on Twitter. Another Redditor claims, “The point is that billionaires are dumb.” Now, I’m not calling anyone dumb, but it does seem like it’s mostly rich tech CEOs who are pushing AI on everyone else.
I wonder what Aloy would think of an AI version of herself. She’s already a clone, so maybe she’d find it comforting. It’d be an interesting thing to dive into in a sequel to Horizon Forbidden West.
In the meantime, check out the best sci-fi games and explore some of these themes yourself.
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