DOOM creator keen on "ethical" uses for AI, but worried about AAA-style "homogenisation"

The conversation/free-for-all around the role of automated "AI"-based game development rolls on with a few thoughts from Tom Hall, co-founder of id Software and one of the creators of the original DOOM, who says he's (Commander) keen on the prospect of "ethical" uses for such tools in gamedev, but worries that reliance on them "will homogenize games, sort of like AAA games are now".

Speaking to Sektor.sk, Hall said he was "excited" by "how AI could be used ethically to be more of a core element of the game, so it's almost like a game that you're playing and it's playing you, in a sense, or it knows what you want. It could generate things for you, or enable different gameplay, it can adapt much more seamlessly to what you're doing, or just sensibly create more game content."

But he added: "I don't want it to just willy-nilly be procedural, everything AI, and just not have any crafting to it, because that will homogenize games, sort of like a lot of AAA games are now. They're just kind of like I attack the monster, oh, it's attacking, I'll roll out of the way. It's all kind of the same stuff. And that's what I don't want to happen to games because of AI. I want it to enable us to make cooler things, and more amazing things, but there still needs to be a sense of craft."

The current generation of "artificial intelligence" or machine learning tools - ranging from language learning models like ChatGPT to image generators such as Midjourney - continues to divide developers, with many pointing out that the latest crop of AI tools are 1) far from the magical labour-saving devices they're billed to be (perhaps because each "AI creation" actually represents the labour of thousands of low-income workers), and 2) essentially designed to help CEOs cut costs and strip back their workforces.

Amongst others, Stardock have been experimenting with chatbox-style functionality to generate text lore for Galactic Civilization IV: Supernova Edition, while leaving associated imagery in the hands of artists. Activision, meanwhile, have begun using ToxMod's Modulate tool to screen for toxic behaviour in Call of Duty multiplayer. Ubisoft are using a new "Ghostwriter" tool to generate dialogue barks in games like Assassin's Creed. Tinybuild CEO Alex Nichiporchik has suggested using ChatGPT-style functionality to identify "time vampires" within development teams. As ever, the broad takeaway is that a tool is only as good as the purpose it serves.

In general, Hall likes working with new tech, and feels he has a solid track record for getting in early with cutting-edge gizmos. "[Fellow id Software co-founder John] Romero and I made a phone game company before it was cool, and we got messed over by a publisher, and we had to go get different jobs, six months before the iPhone came out," he recalled.

"We were so ready to just jump on that so hard, oh my gosh, because we'd solved all those kind of problems. And I just did a stint for three hours in VR and AR, and that was fantastic, you know, but I did Wolfenstein VR back in 1993.

"I always like seeing new technologies and seeing what the new language you can make is. I did some innovations while I was there, like ways to go into arcade game modes, you just grab a joystick, and now you're playing an arcade game, and these are your buttons on the other controller, and then you can let go, and you just seamlessly go back to VR, and that felt good.

"So I'm always looking for new challenges and new platforms, what are the problems here, what would playing a game in my house mean. All those things are new, exciting challenges, and as a game designer, I want to constantly keep learning and trying to solve the unsolvable, that's an endless quest."

The interview is worth reading in full for Hall's thoughts on the fine art of DOOM level design and certain legendary creative differences with others at id Software back in the 90s, especially the company's engine guru John Carmack. Hall also chats a bit about old properties he'd love to revive, in particular Ion Storm's Anachronox from 2001, which came 31st on our list of the best RPGs despite releasing shortly before the original Deus Ex studio went under.

"I would love to do Anachronox 2 or Anachronox HD!" he told the site. "When the director of the cinematics, Jake Hughes, played Mass Effect, he goes like: 'Oh my god, they made Anachronox!' Mass Effect is really similar, with similar protagonist, and stuff like that. I would love to, it's such a rich universe. I would probably not name the game in Anachronox, but, yeah, I would do that, yeah, heartbeat."