- Sony has patented new AI ‘Ghost Player’ tech that will play PlayStation games itself when users get stuck
- The AI system would train from gameplay clips from YouTube and Twitch, as well as PlayStation Network Data
- The AI Ghost would analyze a player’s game to identify the scenario they are trying to progress through and then process the gameplay data to find the best solution
Sony has patented new AI technology that will take control of PlayStation games when the player gets stuck.
As reported by BoingBoing, the patent, which was originally filed in September 2024, details a new AI-generated system dubbed “Ghost Player” that would be able to generate AI-powered “ghosts” that would assist players.
Essentially, the “AI Ghost” would demonstrate how to progress a level if a player got stuck, or take full control and progress the scenario instead.
Sony explained in the filing that the AI would be trained from past gameplay videos from YouTube and Twitch, and data from the PlayStation Network, in order to find the best solution and solve the problem.
“Some solutions have included the use of a character that a user can follow. However, the character is usually a graphic image or outlined image of a prior player that played the game and the user must follow the character watching the moves that occurred (including moves and interaction that is not relevant to the user’s current gameplay scenarios),” Sony explained.
“This is not, however, very useful for real-time assistance to a player that is encountering some difficulty with a specific scenario of gameplay or along the player’s specific gameplay path. This is because the character does not know specifically what the player is playing or the context of the user’s gameplay.
“Further, the character is typically only performing actions of one prior player. Further yet, the character is only presented for general game scenarios that relate to the game, not in relation to the context of the player’s current gameplay.”
It’s also said that the AI system would be able to analyze a player’s game state data to identify the scenario they are trying to progress through. The AI would then process the gameplay to find the best solution.
“The relevant interactivity is for the context of the gameplay of the player, not just some prior gameplay of another player,” the patent reads.
“The ghost character can therefore be controlled by the assistance Al engine during gameplay and provide the player with visual illustrations of how certain game scenarios are played in order for the character controlled by the player to be able to achieve progress in the game.”
It sounds like an interesting idea, but what about, for instance, FromSoftware games, which famously don’t offer an easy mode? If I’m stuck on an Elden Ring boss, will the AI Ghost take over and beat it for me, minimizing all my hard-earned progress?
Though the patent does make mention of ways for the AI Ghost to offer “limited assistance”, along with more detailed and comprehensive assistance, would it be a system I can opt out of completely?
The patent doesn’t mention any plans to implement this feature in future PlayStation hardware, but it’s hard to ignore how quickly AI is finding its way into the gaming space, like Microsoft’s Gaming Copilot feature, which was introduced last year as an AI companion.
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