I write about video games for a living, and Xbox's new AI Copilot has me concerned

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Where's all this knowledge coming from?

Xbox Copilot Prototype
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Artificial intelligence in gaming is nothing new. GPU manufacturers like NVIDIA and AMD have been using machine learning to upscale visuals in recent years, even generating additional frames so that hardware is less reliant on brute force. The PlayStation 5 Pro does similarly. Earlier this week, we also learned Sony is testing AI-powered characters.

Microsoft is taking a slightly different tact with its new Copilot featurest.

Copilot Is Coming To Gaming, Xbox Play Anywhere Updates, And More | Official Xbox Podcast - YouTube Copilot Is Coming To Gaming, Xbox Play Anywhere Updates, And More | Official Xbox Podcast - YouTube
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Here's the positive

The idea is genuinely impressive, since it'll tie in with Xbox consoles and the wider AI ecosystem. You can, for example, ask Copilot to download a game you didn't finish and have it explain where you were at.

It can even poke fun at your misplays (if that's what you want) and recommend new games to try – or help tailor games you are playing to your own personal tastes, like suggesting a car type in Forza that it thinks you'll appreciate.

As with anything involving AI, though, there are serious ethical concerns.

The good stuff

Pink Xbox controller

(Image credit: Future)

One of the bigger features shown in the proof of concept is the inclusion of AI strategy guides, where Copilot can go and find you a way to defeat a tricky boss or complete a puzzle.

That's all well and good, but as the tendrils of AI reach out, there may not be anything left for it to source from.

As the tendrils of AI reach out, there may not be anything left for it to source from.

You see, in recent years, games media (that's news, reviews, features, and guides) has been through the mill. Google's aggressive push for AI overviews that source from content while taking away from outlets that produce those articles in the first place has led to huge layoffs, and even closures of promising outlets.

I know this because this shift cost me my job. I've seen firsthand hard-working folks who write guides for a living (which requires no small amount of talent, by the way) swept away by AI-written, cheap imitations full of inaccuracy.

How will Copilot recommend a strategy guide for, say, Forza Horizon 5 when Copilot itself hasn't played the game, and is essentially pulling from sources that, in many cases, haven't played the game either?

These are bigger questions than I'm able to answer here but as I see it, it's yet another ethical conundrum for generative AI, and it'll be interesting how Microsoft (and gamers) reckon with that.

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Lloyd Coombes
Lloyd Coombes
Contributing writer

Lloyd Coombes is a freelance tech and fitness writer. He's an expert in all things Apple as well as in computer and gaming tech, with previous works published on TechRadar, Tom's Guide, Live Science and more. You'll find him regularly testing the latest MacBook or iPhone, but he spends most of his time writing about video games as Gaming Editor for the Daily Star. He also covers board games and virtual reality, just to round out the nerdy pursuits.

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