Sony Patents AI Assistant Capable of Playing Games Instead of Humans
Modern games offer various ways to assist players. Some allow disabling QTEs, some let you perform combos with a single button, and characters often start providing hints for puzzles. Sony has taken it a step further by patenting an AI assistant capable of completing difficult game segments instead of a live gamer.
The concept works by allowing users to summon a "ghost player"—an AI version of the gamer’s character—that can complete parts or entire levels. For example, in Uncharted, players can call an AI version of Nathan Drake to demonstrate puzzle solutions as a guide for the player to follow, or the "ghost" Drake might jump across beams or solve puzzles independently.
The document states that the AI assistant will be trained on gameplay recordings, rather than consisting of pre-recorded action options. As VGC noted, the registered patent for the ghost assistant develops ideas from the "Game Help" option for the PS5, which provides helpful videos or screenshots to assist in-game progress.
It's important to note that Sony filed the patent application back in September 2024, but only recently did the World Intellectual Property Organization publish an international report on the patent status. It's still unknown when PlayStation games will start playing themselves.
There is a possibility that Sony registered the patent merely as a precaution, to prevent others from doing so. There are enough such cases (example, second example, and another example).
The AI assistant is not Sony's first experiment in neural networks. Previously, a video was released showing the main character of the Horizon series answering user questions about the in-game world and gameplay while chatting on unrelated topics.
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