A leaked video reportedly depicts a Sony director engaging in a conversation with a prototype of AI Aloy

Sources suggest that PlayStation is testing an artificial intelligence prototype that incorporates characters from its major game series.

A leaked recording allegedly displayed Sharwin Raghoebardajal, PlayStation’s head of software engineering, interacting with a preliminary AI model of a character named Aloy.

The footage shared with The Verge—though it was subsequently removed following a copyright notice from Sony—presented Raghoebardajal conducting a tech demonstration. It highlighted Aloy’s ability to engage with him using voice prompts within both the AI framework and in the game Horizon Forbidden West.

Raghoebardajal emphasized, "This is just a glimpse of what is possible," noting that Aloy can provide players with context and lore upon request.

Despite the voice differing from the in-game version, the AI character responded to inquiries with facial movements and gestures in sync. Raghoebardajal clarified that the demonstration was part of Sony’s internal testing.

According to details provided by The Verge, the AI integrates OpenAI’s Whisper for converting speech to text and utilizes GPT-4 and Llama 3 for dialogue management and decision processes. Sony’s proprietary Mockingbird technology enables audio-driven facial animations, while the Emotional Voice Synthesis (EVS) creates realistic speech.

Although the demo was executed on a PC, Sony anticipates the technology could operate on PS5 systems without significant performance concerns.

In related news, there are reports of the French voice cast for Apex Legends declining contracts that included provisions for AI voice training with their voices.