Copilot, Microsoft's AI-powered chatbot assistant thing, is coming to Xbox as "Copilot for Gaming," which aims to "help you save time, find new games you’re likely to love, or even to help ease you back into a game you may have stepped away from."
"Copilot for Gaming is built on three principles: capability, adaptability, and personalization," Microsoft said. "It is designed to assist players in various ways, from personalized game recommendations and seamless game setup, to helpful coaching and maintaining connections with friends."
Beyond that sort of in-game assistance, Copilot for Gaming will supposedly also help "connect you with families and communities," tell you when your friends are doing things online, recommend new games to play so you don't have to talk to actual people whose opinions you might value, and chat with and trash-talk you, if that's what you're into. Kardar said it's vital that Copilot for Gaming not be "intrusive," and players will have full control over how, or if, they interact with it.
I'm a little bit torn on the whole thing, personally. In some ways it's really not all that far removed from popping over to GameFAQs, or using a coupon that came in the game box to order a guide book: An evolution of technology that accomplishes an essentially unchanging goal. Mostly, though, I think it sounds awful, in the way that most AI stuff sounds awful. What are we getting out of all this that we don't already have, and at what cost, beyond parallel growth in convenience and—pleasant promises about staying "connected" notwithstanding—isolation from the real world?
Eh, maybe I'm not all that torn on it after all.
A rollout date for Copilot for Gaming hasn't been announced yet, but it will be available for Xbox Insiders on mobile platforms, before eventually being rolled out to consoles and PC—assuming the AI bubble doesn't pop first, I suppose.
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