When it comes to artificial intelligence in the Halo universe, look no further than Cortana — a “smart AI” flash-cloned from the brain of Dr. Catherine Halsey who becomes Master Chief’s closest ally from the moment he’s awakened aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn in the opening of Halo: Combat Evolved. Over the years, Cortana has become one of Halo’s most iconic and beloved characters, not only because she enhances Master Chief’s technical and tactical abilities, but also because of the deep, emotional, almost familial bond she forges with him. Master Chief, a stoic and mission-driven super-soldier, is ironically humanized and grounded by the companionship, empathy, and moral perspective Cortana provides.
When it comes to real-world AI in video game development, however, people aren’t as welcoming with open arms as they are to Cortana in Halo’s fictional future. While developers can use AI to help create art, dialogue, and code and even reduce the dreaded “development crunch,” many remain cautious. In fact, a recent survey found that developers are increasingly concerned that generative AI could lower overall game quality. The biggest fear? That AI-generated content will feel generic, lack emotional depth, and recycle familiar patterns instead of truly innovating.
So will Halo: Campaign Evolved use AI? According to the game’s executive producer Damon Conn, AI will play a part but a supplementary one.
“I want to be very clear… People are creative. People make games. AI can improve workflows. It can do things for the game,” Conn told Rolling Stone.
Conn continued, “But I want to be very specific and clear that the people are the ones who are creating the game, and [if] there’s an opportunity to improve a workflow, or something along those lines, we’ll look at it again. It really should be additive to the creation of a game.”
“It’s a tool in a toolbox,” added game director Greg Hermann. “I may go a little off message here, but some of that gets very challenging when we look at how integrated AI is becoming within our tooling. We use Photoshop. There’s generative fill, for example. The boundary lines can get a little fuzzy. I will say, though, again, to Damon’s point, it really is about that creative spark that comes from people and improving just overall workflows.”
Rolling Stone reports that Xbox reached out following the interview, clarifying, “There is no mandate to use generative AI in our game development, and that includes Halo: Campaign Evolved.” How much AI, if any, will actually be used remains unclear.
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