Tommy Thompson
AI and Games
Dr Tommy Thompson is the director of AI and Games and provides consultancy, development support, and professional training for artificial intelligence technologies in the video games industry.
He is largely known as a content creator on AI for video games, hosting both the YouTube channel 'AI and Games', as well as the 'Branching Factor' podcast. In addition, Tommy is part of the advisory board for the AI Summit at the Game Developers Conference (GDC).
Before working full-time in the industry, Tommy was an indie game programmer and a university lecturer. His academic career spanned 10 years teaching computer science and game development, and authoring over 50 academic publications in game/AI research.
Tommy Thompson is speaking at the following session/s
A Hype-Free Examination of Generative AI in Videogames
Depending on your perspective, generative AI for games is something you're either incredibly hyped for, or sick of hearing about it. There's a lot of hype surrounding generative AI for games, but is there any substance? There are a myriad of tools emerging that offer to democratise development, but is adopting them going to introduce unnecessary risk to production? If you use a GPT plugin, will the game still be accepted on Steam? Does it actually save us any money in the long run?
This talk will provide a grounded, and hype-free overview of the current state of the art in generative AI. How these systems work, what tools are available, and what benefits and risks can emerge by adopting them into a production pipeline and later trying to publish the final product. The goal is to arm attendees with a greater knowledge of this technology trend, and how best to approach these tools and services in current and future projects.
Session Takeaway
- Understand the current state of generative AI developments and what impact it can and will have on specific areas of production.
- Learn what factors to be aware of when using a generative AI tool that could introduce additional costs, create legal issues or impede publication.
- Develop a broader understanding of the potential long-term benefits and risks of using generative AI tools in production.
Session speakers
