Square Enix has taken a daring step into the tech frontier by integrating its self-developed AI chatbot, ‘Hisui-chan,’ into its game development process. Despite industry-wide debates about AI ethics and functionality, the company is banking on generative AI to streamline internal processes and inspire innovation. Via Famitsu, the Final Fantasy developer showcased its chatbot at the 2024 CEDEC+KYUSHU conference at Kyushu Sangyo University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Hisui-chan supports the company’s proprietary game engine and even third-party apps like Slack, aiding employees with technical queries and providing detailed, multilingual responses. Developed by Square Enix’s AI & Engine Development Division, it leverages Azure cloud services and GPT-4o, enabling quick problem resolution and streamlining workflow.
One of Hisui-chan’s features that was proudly shared was its Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) technology. By analyzing user input and comparing it to internal documents, the chatbot delivers precise answers while correcting errors like misspelled terms– even during the presentation. Square Enix claimed the AI chatbot’s introduction managed to reduce workload stress and motivated teams to create better documentation, enhancing efficiency.
However, Square Enix’s AI ambitions don’t stop at chatbots. The company is exploring generative AI tools to create interactive applications, like a ‘Magic Generation System.’ This app uses multimodal AI to quickly interpret images and generate gameplay elements, such as magical abilities tied to visuals.
For example, the Magic Generation System can help the team when it wants to make crow-based magic attacks. First, team members can input a generic skill name and description, such as ‘Lightning Arrow’ into the system. Then, they add a basic hand-drawn magic symbol with simple lines and shapes.
Afterward, the Magic Generation will tweak the previous prompt, adding crow-like qualities to the skill effect complete with a magic sigil generated by DALLE-3. The ability is now called ‘Nightwing Shadow’ or ‘Shadow Raven,’ transforming it into a dark-element magic that summons a shadowy beast with pitch-black wings. The AI also adds additional debuff such as inflicting fear or silence, making a target unable to cast spells. Square Enix AI chatbot can even generate food images if the team needs an output related to fire and cooking.
While the benefits are clear, Square Enix acknowledges AI’s limitations. Hisui-chan occasionally falters, such as mispronouncing names or delivering inconsistent results.
Square Enix AI programmer Endo Teruhito demonstrated the problem by asking the chatbot ‘who’s the current company’s CEO’ is. Once, it answered with ‘Kiryu Takafumi,’ the second time it replied ‘Ito Kenichiro’; Kiryu Takashi would’ve been the correct answer. This underscores the need for robust documentation so the team can locate the problem. There are also ethical concerns, especially when balancing in-game worlds’ unique moralities with real-world values from various regions.
Square Enix is treading a fine line by championing AI chatbots and tools while navigating its challenges. Despite the industry grappling with AI’s role in game development, the company remains optimistic, believing its efforts will inspire new things fast for its works.
