Microsoft’s dive into AI is spreading to its gaming division in the form of an animated character chatbot.
The Verge, citing unnamed sources familiar with the product, reports that the tech giant is testing an “embodied AI character” chatbot for Xbox that can respond to queries, such as those about broken gaming consoles or issues with subscriptions, and automate other support tasks. It can also process game refunds through Microsoft’s support website, as it is connected to Xbox support documents. An internal description of the chatbot reportedly says, “This agent can help you with your Xbox support questions.” The chatbot is part of a larger effort by Microsoft Gaming to implement AI into the gaming platform and its services, The Verge reported.
“We are testing an Xbox Support Virtual Agent, an internal prototype of an animated character that can query Xbox Support topics with voice or text,” Haiyan Zhang, general manager of gaming AI at Xbox, confirmed in a statement shared with Quartz. “The prototype makes it easier and quicker for players to get help with support topics using natural language, taking information from existing Xbox Support pages.” Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.
Sources also told The Verge that Microsoft wants to bring AI features to game content creation and operations, including AI-generated art and tools in games. Microsoft also reportedly wants to expand its Copilot AI tool to handle safety and moderation on Xbox, and act as an assistant to gamers.
The chatbot is reportedly similar to what Microsoft wants its customers to make on its Azure platform, where developers and organizations can build their own AI-powered chatbots. Microsoft shared a suite of new tools last week to help Azure AI customers prevent hallucinations in their AI models, including a groundedness detection feature that can find text-based hallucinations, and prompt shields, which can prevent attacks, such as malicious prompt injections, on AI models.