hello everyone welcome to what's the buttons
podcast it's actually um year three the third
birthday of the podcast happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me happy birthday to me and
ash and steph and mark and connor and daryl happy
birthday what i was trying to do But I can't
remember. It's the other rainbow song. But I
can't remember what they are. No. Happy birthday
to you. Make a wish. Nice. And to all the patrons
as well. Yeah. I guess. That's not the anniversary
for the patron. No, do you know what that is?
No. Anniversary for the podcast. Yeah, year three.
Nothing crazy going on. I mean... probably one
of the cool things is that we finally got a a
microphone stand and a small little microphone
um which is basically the same mics that we've
currently got which are big wham penis mics uh
and it's just a little chode version of it that
steph's currently using i mean i'm loving it
so far yeah i feel if some reason it's just i
don't know i feel like kind of lazy but it's
also nice I feel like I'm being cradled. But
what I was just saying is the little behind the
scenes, the microphones that we use are Rode
Procasters and they're very good. But the problem
with them is that you have to talk right into
the top of them because if you're talking to
the side, it's all sound deadening. So it doesn't
pick up a decent sound. And the new mic that
we've got is of the same make. So therefore,
it's the same type of microphone. Mia! Hey! Dog's
licking herself. Look at the eyes on her. Don't
look at me like that. Terrible. And, yeah, they're
great for sound, but when you want to have a
microphone away from you and then pick up decent
sound, they're not fantastic. So I was a little
bit worried about getting a microphone stand
and then not being able to move it about as freely,
but hopefully this will go pretty well, which
it is so far. Yeah, it's decent. I mean, it's
the sort of thing I'm self -conscious because
I realise how much I move the microwave in my
hand to just make human noises. So if you hear
any whistling, it's not a bogey. But it's like
you're on a radio station, isn't it? It does
feel very official. Because it's right there.
It's almost like whenever you... Because the
one that I've always found weird is sports commentators
because obviously they've got like a rest for
their lip. So they hold it right close to them
and then talk into it. Because obviously that's
the, no different to how I'm talking now, but
imagine there's a lip on it that keeps it in
place. Yeah, so you know that, yeah. Yeah, yeah,
which is quite cool. But I wouldn't really want
to sit there like this with it right in my face.
And I'd just be so concerned of like, and stuff
like that. Because it's just like, ew. Yeah.
But then I think it's kind of nice because you
think like, you know, you're on year three and
I feel like. you know incrementally you're getting
that more and more professional sort of setup
and stuff yeah i mean i know like we've spoken
about the house and stuff on here before but
the dream for the pod room is very much still
there and still alive it's just working on it
yeah i was looking at um looking at tables the
other day like a bigger a bigger desk set up
um and being able to to have various things knocking
about um time You know what I mean? Time will
get us there. And also like this mic stand, it
does lend itself to that sort of like, you know,
when you were saying about getting comfy chairs
and having, you know, you could clip that to
the table at your side and then you'd be like
well relaxed. You're not even going to worry
about holding it. It's nice. Because these mics
obviously go in there and I took a photo and
showed you and showed the lads and it just looks
fucking ridiculous. Obviously these mics are
long and they're heavy. Putting it on a little
stand like that, it just looks like it's going
to snap in half and also it's just... You think
that's phallic and this is phallic. Try having
this big dong hanging off of a mic stand in front
of you. It's so fucking weird. It's really not
good. But it is cool. It is cool. It could be
pink, but you know. I apologise. They didn't
do it in pink. Of course they don't. It was either
black or white. And I got a weird thing about
getting white equipment. Yeah, I know. Why? Because
it just gets dirty. It probably would, but if
it gets dirty. Could you get the mic in white?
Yes. No, I know. It does look a bit tasty and
white. I will give it that. Oh, my God. I know.
It's because if you get dirt on them, obviously...
What's getting dirty? Well, because you're touching...
You think a mic stand, you're touching that and
moving that a lot. I've touched it once. Yeah.
And also, what have you been doing with your
fucking hands? Just wash your hands and then
you're fine. Anywho. Games. Onwards and forwards.
Gaming, gaming. I floated the idea to Steph of
talking about AI in games. I feel like... You
just have to talk nicely because it's all listening.
Probably a half -decent conversation because
I want to hazard a guess that me and you sit
kind of on the opposite sides of the fence. I
reckon we do, actually. When it comes to AI.
What, you for and me against? Yeah. Yeah. I feel
like that's how I am. It's got a weird thing
about it. It seems weird. If AI in its entirety
wasn't so damaging environmentally, would you
still be up for it? No. You just don't like it.
There's something off -putting about it. I mean,
this isn't a unique point of view by any means,
but just aside from gaming for a moment, I saw
the other day a photograph that my cousin had
asked me to have a go at, and I was struggling
with it. It's just that damaged photo of Jer.
Yeah. And I'd had a little go, and the way that
I've always done it was... It would have been
all right, but not, you know what I mean? And
anyway, so she, it has to be AI because there's
no way. I'll have to ask her after I speak to
her. But this picture, it's, you know how like
originally or even like, I don't know, six months
ago, a year ago, whatever. And you'd see like
AI restored photographs and it would be, you
know, 10 fingers or it's not that person. And
yes, that's still happening now. But this picture
is like. it's difficult because I don't know
the other two men so to me they do look identical
and maybe if you did know them you'd go no that's
not quite right but it's or like the you know
the news reporter one the other day and she says
oh coming at you live oh jokes I'm not real there's
so many so many that genuinely I suppose being
from like the photography background And how,
you know, you used to get kicked out of competitions
if they reckoned you'd used a preset or you'd
moved a finger or an eyelash or a fucking hair
out of the way. It'd be like, whoop, nope, you're
out. That's manipulation. That's gone. That's
essentially like just been completely erased
by AI. And I feel like all of a sudden we've
just accepted that it's in everything and it's
a good thing. And, you know, like you said the
other day, or actually literally yesterday. and
i and i wanted to know my sister had given me
a plant and i wanted to know where i should put
it in the house and you go oh no just ask alexa
and it's like or i could just ask my actual sister
who planted the plant and i feel like with gaming
as well you're gonna you know i mean is it is
it going to be the sort of thing where previously
you'd figure it out for yourself but instead
you're going to have this person going i can
see that you're struggling because i think that
this you know the way that you've just moved
around suggests that you don't know where you
are so and all that shit like is it going to
be where you're almost not even playing the game
anymore because this thing is just there and
it's basically better at it than you and it knows
you better. I don't know, man. It's iffy. I feel
iffy about it. I feel unsettled. Me and you obviously
just got brand new phones. Yeah. So S25 Ultra
and what have you got? iPhone 16 Pro. 16 Pro.
So... And they're littered with AI. The 25 Ultra
is designed for AI. Everything you can fucking
do with it is AI. I just allowed it on my phone
this morning because I wanted to know if I could
have two Hayfever tablets together. Rather than
just Googling it. Exactly. Because I look at
how easy it is for you and I get jealous. It's
so handy. Obviously, I've got that app for picture
this for identifying plants and insects and other
shit. Use it a lot for work, but also use it
a lot outside of work. And I still do use it
and I pay for it. It's not expensive. But with
the AI thing, you can just take a picture and
just fucking circle something. And it just pops
up. That fucking light outside with the blue
thing that I've just broken. I'm going to take
a photo of it and then circle it to find out
what that is. And it's going to tell me what
that is. Because I also can't be asked to Google
outside light with blue bulb on it, with blue
bobble on it. Because that's just going to fucking
tell me how to do it. And me and a couple of
the lads were having a chat about AI and shit
and technology and how vastly different times
are in not a short amount of time, in not a long
distance. And it's just made life... easier but
at the same time more difficult and also it's
like not always like you know you know the the
google now that everything you google there's
the ai overview yeah yeah and i've already run
into quite a few problems with that because so
at work there's certain gift cards we sell but
we don't accept but oh that's very loud but in
ireland they do so ai when you google do they
accept this gift card it says yes they do but
they don't it's because it's taken it from the
irish website and said so we get countless people
coming in saying well what do you mean it says
here you do and you go no but that's not google
like i get people coming in going what what do
i have to do to get my phone for 5g because they've
received this text that the network's going over
and they don't know what that means and thinks
that they have to buy a new phone it's like no
what you what it's telling probably i've not
seen the message but i can assume it's your hand
obviously like my previous phone was limited
to 4g didn't matter if i was in a 5g area that's
that you know what i mean and that sort of thing
where ai is so confident that it's right it's
not saying something like you know check the
website or actually i don't know or only in ireland
it's like how can you be so smart and actually
missed the mark as well on stuff that... Yeah,
I mean, I feel like a lot of that's down to a
user, though. But it doesn't say anywhere that
it's in Ireland. I only know that because I work
there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So if you were
Googling it, you would think... You'd want it
to recognise that you're in England. Well, fuck
me, I sent my mum's curries because I fell for
it initially. I didn't realise. And it said that
you can and you can't. You know, and things like
that. In terms from just dragging it back from
a gaming standpoint, It's very difficult because
on one hand, I agree with its integration into
gaming. And on the other hand, which is arguably
the bigger hand, I don't agree with it in integration.
So there's a couple of aspects where I do. So
in terms of, say, ESO, for example. one of the
things that we love the most, you and I and most
people that play it, is the voice acting and
how every single aspect of it is voice acted
by countless people, which I feel like is so
incredibly in -depth for an MMO, for everything
to be voice acted like that. I'm talking fucking
quest text, quips, fucking loads of shit. Go
and talk to a random NPC and there will be...
What's that? Oh, it's the washing machine. Oh.
Fucking spinning. These lot won't hear it. Okay.
But, yeah, just loads of voice acting and that
is a thing that isn't present in World of Warcraft
at all. However, it is present on things like
Ascension, where their private servers, or they're
using the game files themselves, so it's a privately
owned game, if you will, where they use AI integration
to voice act the quest text. Because obviously
when you click on a quest in WoW, it comes up,
when you're talking to that person, it comes
up with a big old text. Yeah, and it's fucking
long. Barely anyone reads it, because it's long.
but with ESO you don't really read that but you
can listen to it which makes it way more accessible
so AI is integrated into that that's an example
where I would agree with it because you're implementing
that into a game where it doesn't exist and the
developer isn't going to put the effort or the
money involved to voice act all of that all of
those quests and everything else that's an example
where I would agree with it Or things like if
you're procedurally generating a new planet,
an area, a world, say like No Man's Sky, for
example, millions and millions of fucking worlds,
planets that you can visit. Well, if you want
developers to make every single one from scratch,
the game's never going to release or it's going
to be constantly updated with multiple ones.
So you incorporate AI into that. to procedurally
generate different areas for you then i feel
like that can work as well because you've still
got the game at its core you've still got the
people that are required to make it but a lot
of that legwork is taken away by having to not
worry so much about that yeah those are the types
of things where i agree with them the other thing
that would be cool um i mean don't get me wrong
i'm not like you know oh i'm not gonna play that
because it's good ai it's just like i don't know
i guess i'm just a little bit like nervy of the
whole thing but I just while you were speaking
then I thought of a good one that would have
definitely improved like the gameplay experience
say for example you had AI that it's taking note
of like so say take Hogwarts Legacy and our main
complaint with that game is that you you went
from being like it was it was very enjoyable
and and you used all of the spells and your different
bars and stuff and then it was just like oh my
god I'm like massively the levelling, the scaling
was off and actually then wasn't a challenge
towards that last sort of, I'd say, third of
the game for me. Yeah, yeah. If it could see
like, okay, right, well they're constantly relying
on this spell and let's make this harder for
that person. You know what I mean? Like knew
you as a player and made it harder, like tailored
that, the levelling to your specific thing. That's
definitely already a thing in quite a few games,
I think. In what though? Where, boss fights where
the enemy will learn your character and how you
play yeah and everything like that and will counteract
upon that let me i'll quickly look say what but
what using ai or just like a i spoke because
i mean realistically you there's ways there's
other ways of of achieving things that ai can
do isn't it in that it's essentially like an
extension of humans Hence, artificial intelligence.
Yeah. It says... When was this from, though?
The world's first AI boss. The world's first
AI boss is Asterion? Asterion? Featured in the
upcoming MMORPG... MIR5? I don't know what it
is. Developed by WeMade. we made next using nvidia
ace technology unlike traditional scripted bosses
hysterian learns from player actions and adapts
its strategies in real time making each encounter
unique oh wait so it's not out yet i don't think
that's out yet or no i don't think that's out
yet and that's using nvidia because obviously
nvidia are getting quite big into the ai world
i mean a lot of fucking computer tech is is is
getting into that maybe i'm probably wrong in
my statement then that that ai in terms of boss
fights hasn't quite landed yet but is going to
do i like that well that it learns how i think
it makes it a lot more challenging i think that's
quite cool because you know yourself quite cool
and unique like not to um you know your gameplay
of elden ring great Let's be honest. If, for
example, Mimic Tear, which was your crutch throughout
the entire thing. Mimic Tear was a mechanic that
you were allowed to use, and therefore I used
it. But let's, for example, say it learns, right,
okay, for the last seven fights he's used this.
Let's... bring out a boss where that you know
it has a let's attack him straight off the bat
yeah yeah or has something that specifically
blocks the use of a mimic tier it's got some
spell that stops you using it or you know something
that that takes that away from you so you have
to get a bit more creative that's something where
it's not just putting it in for the sake of it
but actually is part of that game's mechanic
is to it knows you and you know what i mean like
it can destabilize you and it would make you
think on your feet it would almost become a race
against the clock because you go, all right,
so I've encountered this boss for the first time,
okay? So let's say I make it to the second phase
of this boss, whatever it is. Let's say it's
Consort Radan, yeah? Yeah. So through my many,
many, many tries at killing that boss, I had
the first phase down to a T. Yeah. Practically
just didn't get hit because I knew the move set.
And I knew what I was about to, what to expect
from just the way the geezer was fucking shuffling
around. I was like, I know he's going to do this,
this, and this. And then make it a second phase
and then it's just all hell breaks loose and
fucking clench your bum, I won't hope you win.
So, let's say I'm getting to a point where I'm
memorising that moveset. If the boss itself is
ran by AI, so could recognise that after two
or three attempts, I'm still dying. But I'm getting
better as the player at avoiding these mechanics.
And then the boss is going to switch it around
and start doing some weird shit. Which I'm pretty
fucking sure Consort Radan does. Because I'm
not the only fucker. There's definitely movesets
there where no one's seen them. No one's seen
that. I don't know what that's doing. I don't
know why he's done that. That's not part of the
script. Like abilities where he's... he's hit
you four times and then you've been playing for
10 hours and then all of a sudden this same fucking
ability that he's been using for 10 hours hits
you 12 times. You go, well, that's new because
that's not a thing. And I don't know if that's
us going mental because we're drained or if that's
a legit thing because Reddit says it is. He pulled
that out of his ass. Where the fuck did that
come from? So what I'm saying is after a couple
tries, he then learns because I know that if
I do this. He's expecting me to do this and he's
going to do that. If it then turns it on its
head, is that enjoyable? Because that's where
it becomes a... It's impossible. Well, that's
where it becomes a fight for time. Because you
go, right, after 10 attempts, he's going to start
learning. He's going to have enough data to know
what my habits are in this encounter. And therefore,
they're going to change. So I have to kill the
fucker. in less than 10 attempts, because then
he isn't going to start changing by then. You
see what I mean? Yeah, I mean, you're potentially
running with it here. You go, I'm not going to
give... Let's just make this game impossible.
I'm not going to give you the chance. But then
the developer is going to catch on to that and
make it so that you can't kill... It's really
hard to kill it within 10 goes. So then the boss
is naturally extremely difficult and then you're
going to throw AI into that and make it even
more difficult. No, I think potentially more
just say like you've got, so like Mimic tier
being a mechanic of what, 10 different choices,
let's say for example. Yeah. Right. Maybe it
makes it so that, you know, if you've gone through
that game and you've only really touched two
or three because they're the ones you like and
you found that's what works for you. Maybe it
just does it so that, it makes you explore the
other ones that you otherwise might not have,
which you might not enjoy because like, for example,
ESO, the second, like obviously we've made new
characters and then the subclass in, the first
thing I did with the subclass in was go into
Templar and get my favourite ones from my other
character because that's just the kind of player
I am. I'm a creature of habit and I like what
I like. As much as the new ones that I've got
at the moment are cool, I need to be eased into
it with the ones I've had previously, which is
why I've gone straight back to doing that. So
say, for example, that might be an option where,
yeah, it doesn't work for everyone. If it's forcing
you to use abilities that you otherwise wouldn't
have used, but at the same time, it's making
the game harder, but not impossible. I think
what you're saying there... It has the potential
to, it just makes the game impossible or like
not fun because it's too grindy. You lose interest
because you're not getting anywhere. In a sense
of, would you say it keeps you gripped because
each time you die, like you say, you're learning
that little bit more. You know what to do for
the next time that little bit more. And it's
almost like a gamble, isn't it? You're gambling
on. will that next turn be the turn I win? And
that's what's keeping you coming back. It's a
very good way of, yeah. So if AI is too harsh,
too clever, it's going to have the opposite effect.
You're going to say, fuck this, this is impossible.
So then how do you incorporate that into something
like a boss fight? I don't understand how you
would do that without it getting to that point.
Well, do it within reason. I don't know, theoretically,
say what I've said, where you're using Mimic
Tear, it stops you using Mimic Tear, but then,
I don't know, what's another one? What's another
thing you can use instead? Oh, there's fucking
loads. There's loads of different summons. So
whatever the other summon, and then it lets you
carry on with that, and then if you die another
ten times, it goes, right, I'll let Mimic Tear
back. So then you can get that, but you know
what I mean? Something like that where it's limited.
But that would be a recognisable pattern. Well,
no, jazz it up. Do it every two turns, every
ten turns. You know what I mean? Keep changing.
I don't know. Luckily, I'll never have to worry
about it. Yeah. See, I know how I would play
that. Sorry, go on. So I pulled out the mimic
tier. Yeah. And then after ten attempts, it disallows
me to use the mimic tier until I have to use
something else. All I'm going to do is go in
there, use the other summons it lets me use.
keep killing myself until it lets me use the
minute. Yeah, but what if you don't know? I'll
keep doing it until it lets me use it. That's
a bit silly. No, I know, but that's what people
like me and other people would do. Because then
I feel like the whole idea of incorporating something
like AI into a game is to benefit the game itself,
but to also benefit the player and make the experience
better. If you're then going to force players
to play a specific way, then I feel like that
defeats the concept of what you're doing. My
original point wasn't to do with boss fights
at all. My original point was the general scaling
of the game. So, for example, my problem in Hogwarts
Legacy being that it just became a piece of piss
walking around. When I first played the game,
I was actively avoiding dugbugs because they
were fucking banging me out straight away and
the big troll thing. So I was... i feel exploring
that game as they intended whereby enemies are
a threat and you know you're exploring within
reason there's areas you can't go to because
they're too hard and you know you're you're you're
when you see something that's supposed to be
scary you are scared of it you know i mean and
you either charge your arm or run away by the
end i was literally able to just one bank anything
i wanted yeah because it because i was then too
powerful for the rest of that game so you want
it scaling that's what i'm saying they could
could they incorporate ai into something like
that where it is going to it's not going to be
like like not into a boss fight per se because
i do think you need a recognizable pattern you
need you need something to be consistent for
it to be enjoyable to keep you coming back you
almost want let's imagine let's imagine i have
a i have a plank of wood that's teetering yeah
you're on one end as the player and then the
enemies are on the other end or let's say there's
no enemies on the other end but every time you
kill an enemy their body appears on the other
end of the plank so if you kill enough enemies
which means you're obviously it's quite easy
that plank's going to start tilting that way
and your player is eventually going to end up
in with those enemies boom fucked die but then
now there's two of you on this side and the more
you die the more people end up on that side.
So then the scale comes back. And then eventually,
it starts tilting back again because you start
killing more and then it tilts back. Obviously,
that's not how AI would work it out. Quick, we
need the scales to figure this out. But a rolling
difficulty would definitely make life so much
easier. But at the same time, it's a weird one
because I agree with you. There's so many games.
Where the scaling is just completely off. WoW
is massive for it. WoW Classic was fucking tough.
Tough as shit. Back when you used to use crowd
control. Here's a mob of five things. Let's turn
one into a sheep for 60 seconds. So that can't
fucking attack me. Let's kite that one around.
Let's fucking do this, do that. Whereas now,
it's I have a big sword, let me run in, I'm going
to kill everything in five seconds and then move
on to the next thing. Simple as. But the games
themselves have changed, but I feel like also
the community that play these games has also
changed. Because back when it was WoW Classic,
back when it was vanilla, that was how it was
and everyone loved it. Whereas now, you throw
me in mobs like that and I'm dying left, right
and centre because I'm not planning out properly.
I'm going to complain. Other people will complain
because you're so used to this isn't the important
part. Being spoon fed. Yeah, pretty much. Yes,
being spoon fed. Because that is what, at the
end of the day, it's a business. Something like
an MMO, Elder Scrolls, games like that that rely
on that live service, character interaction,
people logging in every day and fucking spending
their money and doing X, Y and Z. want to entice
those people to sit on that sit on their ass
and play that game consistently so if you then
make everything more difficult chances are people
aren't going to invest the time into it nearly
as much as they would something like a souls
like game where they know that the game is designed
to be difficult i know that if i load up elden
ring or bloodborne or fucking dark souls free
or whatever that this game is meant to be hard
i'm meant to suffer to play this game if i'm
paying a a monthly subscription to a game and
it's massively multiplayer online but i can't
fucking progress because everything is killing
me then what am i gonna do i'm gonna go this
ain't for me i'm not wasting my time on this
see you later is how is how a lot of it is now
everything's a rush okay yeah but so i don't
know what ai has to do with that Don't put it
into an MMO. Scaling difficulty is what I'm saying.
Yeah, but not necessarily an MMO. What do you
mean? I wasn't talking about MMOs when I was
saying... Well, you're talking about games in
general. Yeah, no, I know. So what you're saying
is you don't think it'd be suitable in an MMO?
I think scaling needs a better adjustment in...
Oh my God, you answered that like a politician.
That's not why I asked you, Mr. Langdon. I asked
you if you think it's appropriate. Do you want
it, yes or no? I think on better view... There's
a possibility. So was that... Do you... Okay,
right. I'll rephrase the question, Mr. Langdon.
Do you think there is a place for AI in MMO scaling?
Or MMOs in general? When we talk about scaling,
we've done great things. You know what I mean?
We obviously... Obviously, the old developer,
it caused us a lot of problems. And I think we've
dealt with the cards... I'm going to ask you
one more time. Yep. And I mean it. Because I
will get up and I will leave. Yeah, no, ask away.
Ask away. Is that a yes or a no? Do you think?
So no, in fact, no, I'm not even going to bother
because you already said no. I've gleaned from
your discourse that the answer is no. When we
say no, let's explore that. No. Do I want AI
in scaling for that? Probably not. No, because,
yeah, well, yeah. Probably not. I want that.
human interaction with something like a scaling
difficulty in an online game in a in a single
player game like Hogwarts Legacy probably yeah
probably I'll tell you what alternatively rather
than learning learning your you know patterns
and making it harder for you personally even
something like you know obviously that enemies
have to respawn because otherwise the game gets
too full yeah so it has to you know something
like just moving it around a bit, just spice
it up a bit, move it around. I don't want to
know what's around the corner. So, you know,
is that something that that would make easier
for developers to jazz it up a bit in the sense
that, you know, to the right -hand side of this
river, there's always going to be, you know,
if I kill this group of whoever, I'm going to
come back round in half an hour's time and they're
all going to be back. But they're not, because
now they've come back, but they've moved on the
map. So it keeps that in the same way that in
real life it would be. You're not going to come
around on your run and see the same pack of geese
at the same river every single half an hour.
Here's an area that you're invading and here
is every single possibility of an enemy being
here. Make it completely random. Yeah. Make it
completely round. So let's say we're in an area
and there's 20 potential spawn locations for
these enemies. Let's make that completely different
every single time they spawn. Yeah. Every single
time. And it would make it more immersive, I
think, as well. I would like that. Because what
you could also do is subtly change their features,
change their weapons. Yeah, split the packs.
So that it's not... Let's say you've got a pack
of five, five mobs. Scatter them. Yeah. Or, let's
say there's a random chance, or no, they've spawned
again as a five pack, but no, this time they've
spawned again as two, and now there's two over
there, but there's one there that wasn't there
before, and now suddenly there's three, and there's
two, yeah. Yeah, something like that, that diversifies
it in that way. Yeah, I feel like you could,
so let's say you've got five enemies, 20 different
spawn points that they could spawn in, three
have fucking swords, two have crossbows. How
many apples does John have? But make it so that
they can spawn anywhere in those 20, grouped
or not grouped, and they can switch between their
weapons. But also make it so that you wouldn't
have five people with crossbows and five people
with swords. Make it so there is always a variety.
Up close, far away, long range, whatever. If
you walk into it, you go, I can deal with these.
There's two people with crossbows and two people
with swords. Nope. Now there's three people with
crossbows and two swords. Or there's four crossbows,
one sword. Or they've got a fucking cannon. or
a sniper or something that just changes it up
in that way. But do you need AI to do that? For
something like that, I don't think you would
need... Yeah, but did you need AI to tell you
about a plant? Could you just Google it? In the
sense of AI itself is essentially an improvement
on what we already have. What you're saying there
is, yeah, do we need it? No. But did we need
it? Do you need it on your phone? No. Did you
need it to tell you, you know, the thing now,
AI, write me a CV. Well, you could write a CV
yourself. Not fucking gonna, though. Exactly.
And this is kind of that difficult thing. Company
I work for, yeah. Most people will probably know,
but I won't air it. All the contracts have gone
up for tender. Yeah, we should be finding out
in the next couple of weeks who's won what, blah,
blah, blah. Millions and millions of pounds,
right? Stupid amount of money. Almost all the
tenders, and not just for this company, but most
companies that are involved with the fucking
writing the tenders have all used AI for them.
All of them. And then filtered through and changed
it a little bit as they want. Rather than write
it themselves, they've all gone, we'll all use
AI for this. Fucking why not? Well, and it's
like kind of what you're saying with No Man's
Sky, you know, this business of generating planets.
Well, okay, but then what happens to all the
people that previously that was their job? Well,
this is what people get annoyed about. You know,
saying something like Photoshop, those people
that, well, I noticed it even when I set up the,
I was going to have a go at the photo editing
and restoration. Restoration, yeah, yeah. Right
at the point where it came in. And ultimately,
I can't do that for that. because people won't
appreciate it and the better and better it gets
the more and more obsolete all of the people
who previously did that become I mean fuck me
like you can just make me a Simpsons character
and it's there yeah yeah yeah My phone, I can
pick any photo of you or any other person and
it gives me, I can put them in a comic book,
I can put them as a fucking black and white image,
as a cartoon image, and it will do all of that.
Even something like, I noticed when I was doing
the wedding photos, previously, having noise
in an image, that's it. you can't really do that
much because you sharpen it too much or you reduce
it and it goes too soft and it's very very hard
to to yeah that's what i found and they just
ai d noise and it is actually decent like watching
that progress as we all have with with with loads
of things with the ai and like yeah i know there's
some memes and stuff where you know it's like
we've never seen the tiktok when it's like what
happens next And it'll be a picture and it'll
be like someone will get arrested or whatever
or a cat turns around and it's got abs. Like
things like that. But it's not like, you know
what I mean? It's already beyond that. It's like
AI looks at that and goes, oh shit, yeah, I can
see that. Okay, right, fine. Humans only have
four fingers and a thumb. Right, noted. You know,
and it's, I just think gone so quickly. It's
crazy. So, so fast. Because there are so many
people that... see videos and shit and go yeah
that's real you go no it fucking ain't this is
this is ai like what you what you are watching
is is ai i just know that there's loads of videos
i've seen on tiktok on instagram or whatever
where my nana would look at them and go oh my
god there's aliens that have landed in fucking
south end you go no it's some fucking 14 year
old that's made a video using ai is what it is
but like i think You almost don't know if it's
reached the point where even you've been fooled.
Because if it's something you've just looked
at for a couple of seconds and then scrolled
past, it could well have been. Yeah, I reckon
there's stuff where I've probably seen it and
gone, what the fuck is that? What is that? But
I feel like from a trade point, gaming, photography,
videography, media as a whole, I think it's quite
dangerous for that. Because you're going to...
Tattoos, for example. Part of the process of
getting tattoos is getting tattooed by the person,
by the artist and the craftsmanship that's gone
on to it and the years of dedication for that
person to get to that stage. Connor, for example,
who does my tattoos at Good Ship 13. Connor Tattoos.
There's a little plug. Incredible artist. Absolutely
incredible. And does some seriously fucking cool
work. And is so talented. But it's part of the
process of getting a tattoo. You're getting a
product from someone permanently. Who is a craftsmanship.
Who has honed their skills. But you can bet your
ass. If there was a fucking 3D printer style
thing. That was ran by AI to get tattoos. A lot
of cunts are going over there. rather than going
around with an artist and going through all the
manual side of things. And I feel like that happens
in... That is happening in almost everything.
Cars, phones, photos, tech, TVs. If the fucking
kitchen could cook dinner for you, you'd let
it. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that's
where it becomes a... That's where it's the argument
of... Is it making us lazy or is it giving us
the ability to not focus on the fucking mundane
and do the other shit that we need to do? And
before you know it, you're in like WALL -E where
we've killed the planet and we're just getting
carried around on those little chairs. Yeah,
because we're just not fucking doing anything.
And yet, if I pitched you... Say, for example,
the air fryer. You could put something in it
and the air fryer would just know what it is
and how to cook it perfectly. You're telling
me you wouldn't go for that? Yeah, but the air
fryer... You'd love it, mate. You'd be all over
it. Yeah, but the air fryer... I'd go, I'm going
to cook, Rich. And you're like, wait, stick it
in the air fryer. Yeah, but the air fryer is
like that anyway because everyone knows that
the main rule of an air fryer is everything takes
20 minutes on max crisp. Yeah. Everything. How
long do the chips take? Oh, these say they take
16 minutes and the chicken nuggets take 24. No,
20 minutes. Max. Bang. And I've never burnt something
either. No. Open them, shake them, pop them back
in. Everyone does that. Yeah. We must be the
only household in the world that doesn't just
put the oven on fucking full. Bang. Full. There
you go. And yet, I feel like we've hardly used
air fryer so far. We have hardly used the air
fryer. Because it's just a cunt to clean. I can't
be arsed. If we were scummy, we just wouldn't
clean the thing. You know what? Bugger me. I
was in Costco the other day. They've got a new
one of that with a little thing. Self cleaner.
No. Trust me, mate. If it was, it would have
been straight in the basket. But no, it's got
like this little wire thing on the front that's
like this auto temp thing. I didn't hang about
long enough to see. It was a lovely colour. It
changes the temp. Fucking lovely colour. It was
like a caramel colour. It was exactly looked
like ours, but it had this thing in the middle
that was on this little string and it was some
sort of else, you know, this other way of knowing
that your food's ready or whatever. So... Verdict
from an AI point of view, stand or against? In
what? Cooking? In and overall. Oh, God. Would
you prefer a world if I could give you a red
pill or a blue pill where... ai does exist or
ai just doesn't isn't a thing that that happens
i don't know that it's i'd leave it that's you
getting taken out when they take over yeah probably
i've just heard you say that i'd leave it because
i feel like we can advance as a as as a people
as as gaming as whatever with without it it's
so hard i think i don't think it's that black
and white because i think there's so many ways
where it is very very clever and i think there's
a lot of also you know the way that it's been
portrayed in films a bit like final destination
and you know no one who who's seen those films
gets back in a sunbed no one you know we're built
to it's been such a trope and such like a futuristic
thing that's easy to because it you know let's
go back i don't know 20 years it was something
that there was no limit to what you could portray
it to be because it didn't exist you know what
i mean yeah yeah yeah and so but then you know
when you when you apply it the way that it has
been applied and it's you know things like being
able to fucking look in your dna and know exactly
what kind of medical treatment you need or an
exact copy of your own hand So that you can have
your hand back. And things like that. That are
being worked on. And genuinely sort of explored.
That's something where. How you could sit there
and say. Nah. Scrap it. It's crazy when you go.
All through school. Where people go. You won't
have a calculator. To help you with everything.
Blah, blah, blah. And you go. No. I'll have something
in my pocket. That can do everything for me.
Academically. It's got the entire. Entire internet.
At it's fucking fingertips. Yeah. And picks it
out. Like. Like when I asked Snapchat AI to do
me a cover letter. I think it was for you when
you was applying for that job. I didn't use it.
No, but you very easily could go, boop, there
you go. Sweet. I wrote my own one. Didn't get
it. Would you have got it with AI? But I still
felt that I wanted to do that. Did you see the
thing going around and the guy, he's holding
up his laptop and it's how he used AI to get
him his diploma, degree or whatever it was. I
don't know, I suppose it's just... I'll call
it now. It'll go full circle. Your AI will be
so heavily integrated into everything that things
like hand edited. self -edited and fucking handwritten
and things like that will become the novelty
yeah well yeah like vinyl exactly like that yeah
but then but do you not think as well it happens
without you even realizing like it was when we
were moving and i realized i have nothing that
can actually play a cd anymore playstation no
but as in imagine that as an answer can it can
it yeah but imagine that as an answer right now
What have we got that can play a CD? Oh, the
PS5. I thought we found it and it couldn't play
DVDs. We couldn't watch a DVD in it. Let me ask
AI. I swear there was something and it couldn't.
Let me ask. Sorry, I had to fucking agree. Can
a PlayStation 5 play CDs? Just checking. No.
A PlayStation 5 cannot play audio CDs. What do
you mean? A PS5 with a disc drive can play Ultra
HD Blu -ray discs, standard Blu -ray discs and
DVDs. It does not support audio CDs. This is
a change from earlier PlayStation consoles, like
the PS1, PS2 and PS3, which could play CDs. Okay,
so it stopped at the PS3. Yeah, because I think
it's that little... Remember when you'd open
a CD player and it'd be like, do not touch, and
it was that little shiny little thingy? I think
it might be something to do with that, the way
that it reads it. But yeah, but see what I mean?
We've got nothing to play a CD. But it's so non
-consequential, and yet, before you know it,
you know how they say with streaming services,
that again, you've gone from, oh my God, it's
so much cheaper to stream, because if I just
do this, and I can... you know whatever whereas
now oh no sorry you can't watch that it's on
discovery plus oh sorry that's on paramount plus
oh yep and actually this one's on prime video
we need a unification and you know we want to
know what the unification for all those streams
fucking skybox like we had in 2007 no cracked
fire that's what the unification of that baby
is fuck that it's annoying isn't it and then
and then you buy all those subscriptions Ads.
You want to get rid of adverts, girl? Yeah. Two
quid. Exactly. Give us another two quid on top
of the seven that you're already paying us. It
was like me teaching the youth. No, babe. YouTube,
it just used to have no ads. Yeah, no ads. That
existed. That was a thing. And they get you in
the bollocks because YouTube Premium is fantastic.
Oh, I love it. But YouTube, that just used to
be YouTube. I know, I know. And then it's even
sliding. It gives you a little counter and it
goes, here's how many hours you've watched ad
-free. It should be free anyway, you fucker.
I remember the day that you could no longer,
like I used to play YouTube and then lock my
iPod. And then the day that it stopped working,
it stopped playing. And I thought, oh, something's
gone wrong here. And then it was like, nah, SARS
can't do that anymore. And it was because they
were making, hatching their little, cooking their
little plans. Yeah, it's because they're little
fuckers. Of YouTube premium. They go, oh, you
remember when, you remember when, you remember
when Amazon Prime used to be $7 .99 a month?
Yeah, we're now raising those prices. And you
go, fucking hell, all right. No worries. I'll
suffer the extra two quid on top of that. That's
fine. At least I've still got my streaming service
for all these cool programs and shit. And then
when you put one on, you go adverts. And then
at the bottom right -hand corner, it goes, add
three for another quid. Just another quid. It's
two quid though, isn't it? I know. Now it's two
quid. Never used to be. I'm pretty sure it started
off as... It went up to £8 .99. Or maybe it was
£8 .99. I can't remember. And you go, what do
you mean? So you raise the prices. There was
never ads. That was the whole quip of it. No
ads. Then you raise the prices, which I still
have to pay, and now you're going to bump on
another little add -on if you want to get rid
of ads. You go, what is this? And then when you're
watching like a two -hour movie and it fucking
flicks one right in the middle. Boop. But they're
not even long enough to make a cup of tea. So
what's the fucking point? I would love to know,
and it's probably Google -able, how do they know
where the tense bit is? Because there ain't someone
sitting watching going, yeah, put it there. No,
there probably fucking is. Or is that AI? I don't
know. Do they look and say, like, this is the
most watched bit? It's bollocks. I don't know,
man. It's absolute bollocks. Yeah. But like I
just said, make it long enough so that I can
do something. So what was the Nintendo announcement
you were talking about? Regarding AI. Didn't
you say to me earlier? Oh, it was just the CEO
was saying in a passing comment that they reckon
that AI is needed within gaming. Needed? Needed
within gaming. It was one of those weird sort
of things. Where was it? I'm going to fucking
struggle to find it now. Oh, I thought you saved
it to talk about. I thought I did. Apparently
I didn't. Let me have a real quick scrolly -rolly
and see if anything comes up. Chances are my
dumb arse has long lost it. You need to put lift
music here when you're looking for something.
Sorry, it was the Smash Bros director. Oh, right.
Thinks the game industry may need AI. The director
of Super Smash Bros franchise, Masahiro Sakurai.
thinks the game development industry may have
to rely on AI in the future if it keeps going
in the direction it has been. Many options have
been voiced on the use of AI in video game development
and the Super Smash Bros director has his own
stance on the matter. Recently, game development
news has been peppered with stories of mass game
industry layoffs, cancelled games and plenty
of delays to ensure that games are as bug free
as possible or at the very least are actually
playable on arrival. These issues have arrived
alongside the increasing price of video games
leading to disappointment in the industry from
both its customers and its workers. Mind's Eye,
prime example there like I was telling you, the
GTA killer that lasted 24 hours. Now, Sakurai
has offered his own thoughts on the game industry
as a whole, and he seems worried about the future
of AAA large -scale game development. In an interview
with Yahoo Japan, Sakurai talked about the gaming
industry's current direction. Where can I get
to the fucking... Hold point. He feels it can't
continue like this and one of the only solutions
he can think of at the moment is generative AI
to increase work efficiency. He feels we are
reaching a point where we have to change our
scheme to making games and there will become
an era in which only companies that can successfully
adapt to these changes will survive. Is what
he's saying. Yeah, so basically where there's
so much pressure around games releasing. And
releasing properly that AI. Which will either
be absolutely terrible or quite a good thing.
So he's sort of coming at it at the point of
production rather than integration with the actual
game. Help me with the bugs. It will be fucking
literally invented by AI. Within reason. Elements
of it will be. To run through this. Yeah. And
yet you've kind of. proven how that can work
successfully because of the way that how you're
using it now you know in your life with it helping
you solve a problem or it's it's allowing you
to do something quicker thus saving you time
yeah then in that instance it's kind of not so
scary it's just whether you know would i feel
that way if i was a dev probably not probably
a little bit more nervous yeah if it was my job
um If I was a bug tester. Like, for example,
apply it to your job. If AI went and had a look
at the fault, used the security cameras and looked
at the fault for you, then you don't need to
go to that fault and have a look and go, yeah,
I can do that. No, I can't do that. Oh, I'd love
it. Yeah, but would you? Yeah, but then what
if they go, oh, we don't actually need you on
Friday, so we're just going to pay you four days
a week now because on Friday's fault day and
that's AI day. Yeah, but computers aren't taking
over my job. I'm in one of those industries.
Veg is always growing. People are always shitting.
Neither of those things are going anywhere. So
I'm kushti. I'm not dealing with people's poo,
by the way. I'm dealing with the vegetables.
That's until, you know, AI strimmer. We've always
said this, though. Just let it go. Where there's
so many remote -controlled vegetation annihilation
things, right? Vegetation annihilation. Welcome
to the stage. Vegetation annihilation. it's not
practical in the industry that we work on especially
the areas that we work in where you go you ain't
getting a robot down there you can barely get
a fucking 16 stone geyser down there until they
start bolting it onto the sides of trains and
when the train detects fucking leaves it sends
out someone in telling you it won't happen thingy
hours won't happen the infrastructure is far
too large for it to and too intertwined Steph,
I've been in some of these buildings and seen
some things that are still stuck in the 1950s.
I remember reading at uni, it actually went into
my dissertation, a guy talking about, and it
was nuts, the way he's talking about it was how
you're talking about it now, and he was talking
about being able to text a photograph. And it
was literally like some far away thing. I got
a text message from Vodafone, because obviously
we roll with them, but not them. You shouldn't
be getting texts from Vodafone, mate. Yeah. No,
it shouldn't. They should all be from Foxy. I've
never had a text from Vodafone since I left them.
Oh, it might possibly be a scam then. He said
he's a very nice man and he's got a lot of money.
What is it? Because it was a text message. It
must be. What was it? No, it's from Vodafone.
Click this link. No, it's from Vodafone. It says
it looks like you've swapped your SIM. It was
when I did an update. on my phone and that's
why and basically it was saying that my settings
are incorrect and i'll lose the ability to send
picture messages i haven't sent a picture message
outside of whatsapp and who gives a fuck mms
as they were known take away the text messages
i don't give a fuck they sent me that about three
times yeah no link or anything it just said to
change the settings to to re -allow it no i don't
care but But nevertheless, that concept used
to be so incredibly far -fetched and foreign
and expensive and hard. It was like, you know...
God, I can't remember. £1 .50 to send a text
message, to send a picture message. But yeah,
because the infrastructure wasn't there. Most
people fucking now won't remember that you used
to have to pay for the individual text. Per fucking
text, man. Per minute. I've run out of credit.
Imagine sexting and you've run out of credit.
Yeah. Fuming. But... And then, you know, you
go back further than that and then the concept
of a portable phone was far -fetched and unimaginable.
Like, I think we're just at that point now where
you're... It's all just spinning around. Yeah.
But, you know, there are people like, genuinely,
if I could find this piece of writing, it was
crazy. Crazy to read it now. Final verdict. I
want a simple yes or no. AI yes or no. Oh, no.
Simple please, Miss Edwards. Just within gaming?
Within gaming. Production or implementation into
the actual game? Both. What? One answer for both?
Okay. Production? No. No. Only because I feel
for the workers. Yeah. No. Implementation into
the game? Yes. I'm going to go yes. For the planet?
No. For the planet? No. Yeah. Okay. For the better
man? Maybe. Right. If it didn't, you know, kill
all the forests. Thus concludes this episode.
We're going to go and do the... patron episode
if you didn't know we do a patron it's uh patreon
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That's not true. There are no adverts. I think
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Which is not even a quid an episode, is it? Or
is it one thing? Not even a fucking meal deal
anymore is what it isn't. Not even a fucking
meal deal. That ain't worth a packet of crisps,
drink and a sarnie. Yeah. See you later. Hooroo.
Hooroo.