Summary
Fortnite’s latestStar Warsupdate has revealed thatEpicwill soon let players chat to an AI-powered Darth Vader, although there are tons of topics he’s programmed not to talk to you about.
If there’s one unavoidable and depressing truth about the gaming industry lately,it’s that AI is becoming a more common tool for developers, and seems to be making its way into more releases.Considering how massive Fortnite is and how often it’s updated to keep up with the times, it was inevitable that we’d eventually see AI introduced to the game in some fashion.
It seems that long-feared day is finally going to be upon us soon, asFortnite’s current Star Wars season just had its first big updatethat introduces a bunch of new skins and features. One of those features isn’t live yet, butdataminers have already been able to dig into it and reveal just how strangeFortnite’s first player-useable bit of AI is going to be.
Fortnite Is Adding A Darth Vader AI Chatbot, For Some Reason
You’ll Need Your Parents' Permission To Chat With The Tyrant
Earlier today, the latest update for Fortnite went live,with insiders and dataminers like HYPEX and ShiinaBR diving into the files to see everything that’s been added. The most notable thing is a new gameplay mechanic that lets you talk to Darth Vader in-game (as long as you have your parents' permission, of course),who is powered by Google Gemini’s AI tech.
AI Darth Vader doesn’t seem to be live as of the time of writing, (Update: he is now!) but dataminers have already delved deep into Fortnite’s files to get the gist of how he works. If you’ve ever used a chatbot before, you’ll have a basic idea of what’s going on here, butEpic has interestingly programmed Darth Vader to avoid a number of topics.
As pointed out by HYPEX, those topics include V-Bucks (for some reason), sexual language, his regrettable actions with the Younglings in Revenge of the Sith, and, of course, swear words. Darth Vader even has responses for players who say they’re not doing too good,as he’s coded to ask them to seek a medical professional and not refer to them as “weak”.
Darth Vader also can’t quote “more than two lines” from non-Disney or Star Wars media. There goes my Romeo and Juliet reenactment…
AI chatbots are already an incredibly strange, but not entirely unexpected, addition to Fortnite, but it’s even weirder that Epic is choosing to introduce the tech with Darth Vader of all characters. We’ll let you know when you can start chatting to Darth Vader, and keep you up to dateon the horrible things that players are bound to make him say or do.
