Will AI cause or solve more problems?

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Five years or so seems like the sweet spot for people and companies working on generative AI. It’s a stretch of time that a lot of people, like Justin Davis of Spectrum Labs, have achieved. Davis joined GamesBeat’s own Dean Takahashi to talk about generative AI and whether communities are ready for it during our recent GamesBeat Summit.

That five-year deadline is popping up everywhere. Many of the big names in generative AI technologies have crossed it, but have kept it under wraps for the most part. It takes time to create technology that works, and the AI ​​space is no different.

As consumers we only see the end result. We see something like ChatGPT being released, and multiple versions and revisions quickly follow. You create the illusion that these things usually develop quickly, but the reality is that it usually takes time.

That invested time has an additional effect. It allows creators to think about how the technology will end up being used by the general public. AI developers need to consider all angles, including bad faith uses that have already started to appear.

“I think that’s just a sign of things to come,” Davis said, of an AI-generated hoax that sent the market crashing. “We have been talking about deepfakes and all kinds of threats coming from generative AI for many years. It was just another reminder of the risk and threats that occur when you put powerful technology in the hands of people who can actually cause harm in the real world.”

the technology is there

Despite a handful of examples similar to that, the truth is that most people still don’t have a solid understanding of AI. But with software like ChatGPT available in the wild, things like Unity’s Project Barracuda making their way to mainstream devices is only a matter of time.

The fact is that it’s almost less about whether or not communities are ready for generative AI. The technology is there, and it’s getting better every day. As companies start using it to build gaming worlds, or use it for moderation purposes, communities will have no choice but to prepare.

For now, however, there is still a necessary human element at play. AI can already do a lot, but it can’t do everything. Still.

“You come up with a hate speech or threat policy that covers all the use cases that AI can support,” Davis said. “But what about the edges? What about things that aren’t covered by that policy? That’s where you need the humans to come in.”