Riot Games Seeks Employees After Big Layoffs with Focus on AI in Game Development
Riot Games is looking for employees or rather interns, including for research into the use of AI.
The last year was full of layoffs, much to the dismay of many developers, including artists. One of the representatives of the gaming industry was irritated by the job announcement of the developers of League of Legends regarding the use of generative AI.
Nyla Laurie, working at That's No Moon studio, drew attention to the offer posted by Riot Games. The outraged developer wrote that the company had just carried out two waves of layoffs, in which over five hundred devs, including artists, said goodbye to their jobs. Meanwhile - as Laurie claims - the company now wants to hire "creative" artificial intelligence specialists in their place.
(Un)creative AI?
We should note one thing here: among the over 100 new job offers at Riot Games that Laurie brought to her attention, one is only for an internship, and there is no mention of using "generative AI" to create "art."
The description mentioned the "use of generative AI to expand, evolve, and even revolutionize the processes of game development and/or player experiences." In practice, this could mean using AI to accelerate development, such as in the area of programming. Artificial intelligence was used in a similar way by companies such as Sony.
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Riot Games is also considering the "artistic" use of AI, and one can certainly understand the basis of Nyly Laurie's concerns. The issue of “creative” AI has raised considerable concerns in recent years, including a voice actor strike and comments from various developers about the "ethical" use of generative AI. Especially in the context of experiments using it as a game engine, although this won't have practical applications anytime soon.
Most internet users are more irritated by the fact that a large portion of new job offers at Riot Games are for paid internships, which, according to these people, calls into question the actual reason for the massive layoffs at the company.
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