Xbox Unveils AI Gaming Companion for Mobile

Just before the Game Developers Conference (GDC) kicked off, Xbox dropped some exciting news on Thursday—they're playing around with an AI-powered gaming sidekick called "Copilot for Gaming." This nifty tool, powered by Microsoft's AI tech, is a voice-activated buddy that's all about making your gaming sessions better. It's there to answer your questions, help you out with tasks, and yeah, it might even give you a bit of a roasting if you're not on your A-game.

"It can trash talk you if that's what you need," Fatima Kardar, the corporate vice president of gaming AI at Microsoft, mentioned during an episode of Xbox's official podcast that hit the airwaves on Thursday.

In a chat with the press, Xbox showed off a bunch of cool ways this AI can help. For instance, it can give you real-time tips, like suggesting the best Overwatch character to pick for your team based on what they're good at. It even keeps an eye on which characters you've chosen in the past on a specific map. Plus, the AI can dish out advice on your next move to clinch a victory and how to up your game in future battles.

Xbox has teamed up with game studios to make sure the AI's advice is spot on, since, let's face it, the internet can be a bit of a mess with outdated or just plain wrong info, Kardar pointed out. So, when you're asking Copilot for a hand with a game (and no, it won't help you cheat), you can trust it's giving you the real deal.

On top of that, it can let you know when your buddies are online and ask if you want to hop into a game with them. If your friends are offline, though, Copilot can step in as a companion that gets to know your playing style.

It can also handle smaller jobs like reminding you what went down in your last gaming session, installing games for you, and even suggesting new games you might like based on what you've played before.

Right now, you can only get your hands on Copilot for Gaming through the Xbox mobile app, where it pops up as a second screen while you're playing. Xbox is all ears for user feedback and plans to keep tweaking the feature.

Other big names like Google and Sony are also diving into the world of AI agents for video games. Last year, Google DeepMind rolled out SIMA, a gaming buddy that plays right alongside you and follows your instructions. And over at Sony PlayStation, they're apparently cooking up an AI-powered version of Aloy from the game Horizon Forbidden West, according to The Verge.