Hello Betamax, When I was in school, I was hooked on a video game called Gods. That was another lifetime, when computers were bulky, screens were mostly black and white, and graphics were very basic. The game consumed many of my weekends because I could not get past the final Guardian, a snake-like creature emerging from a giant skeletal head in the last stage. I eventually gave up and, for the most part, stopped playing video games altogether. Fast-forward to 20 years later, it is fascinating to see how AI is changing the way games are made and played. In today's first top story, my colleague Glenn looks at how AI companies are taking game creation straight to the players. Singapore-based PixVerse is letting users create games by telling its AI model what they want. Players can describe a world, and the AI builds the game for them. Roblox is testing a similar idea with Build, a mobile app that lets users turn text prompts into playable games. It's a big shift, but there's a catch. Making a game easy to create does not necessarily make it fun to play. Gaming experts say AI could flood platforms with games while giving players little reason to return to them. The bigger question is whether people will pay for these games or even spend enough time playing them. Also, do check out our insights piece on how a US-based VC has built its own AI system to spot the right startups and founders for investment. Not only does the tool save its team more than 10 hours a week, it also makes the VC more agile in finding prospective investees. Making something easier with AI is one thing. Making it genuinely better is another. Samreen Ahmad, journalist |
