I’ve assembled a set of materials to get you up-to-speed on generative AI no matter what level you’re currently at. I begin with the highest-level concepts (vision, market trends, business topics), discuss many of the important use cases (games, images, 3D graphics, music, audio, code) and then move onto the material you’ll need to know if you want to read the science papers coming out in this domain:

You’re reading the original version of this article. It is now maintained, along with my more recent articles about 3D graphics, generative AI and virtual worlds on my Substack: The Direct from Imagination Era Has Begun. When I was a kid, I wanted to build a holodeck — the immersive…

Someday soon, we’ll speak entire universes into existence. NOTE: this article is now maintained on Substack. You’re looking at an older version of the market map. Please visit this for the current version: Market Map: Generative AI for Virtual Worlds Original, outdated article: This article is a guide to the companies building the generative artificial intelligence technology that will lead to these virtual worlds (games, simulations, metaverse applications).

Trillions of dollars: that’s how much private industry is investing into the metaverse. In this article, I provide a description of the value chain of this market, from the experiences that people seek out to the enabling technologies that make it possible. More importantly, I also provide a prescription —…

A few days ago, my team won grant prize the LA AI Virtual Worlds hackathon during the a16z Tech Week by creating a roleplaying game in one day. This is the result of me spending the last few years obsessed with accelerating game development. A big part of that is…

I have started a new series of conversations with pioneers in generative AI: the creators, builders and entrepreneurs who are shaping the future. The first just went live on Metavert.tv. Here’s the first episode, with Hilary Mason — CEO of Hidden Door, who is doing amazing things with language models and games. I’ve also recently updated my Market Map of Generative AI for Virtual Worlds (games, simulations, real-time experiences). You’ll want to check it out here:

In the last week we saw a thousand people call for a six-month pause on AI experimentation — and even one person call for international treaties banning them, who is willing to commit countries to airstrikes against GPU clusters to enforce compliance. I thought it was important to look at what a six-month pause might mean: a 6-month delay in discovering some of the methods that could be important to solving some of the most important challenges facing the human species: nuclear war, climate change, pandemics, biotechnological risks. I also include other existential risks that are frequently brought up, such as asteroids, super volcanoes and cosmic-doom scenarios.

I just wrote: Data Fabric for the Metaverse: Interoperability Starts at Home. About the importance of building the right data infra for your live-services game; and a bit about where blockchain fits (and doesn’t fit) into your strategy. The article is here: Data Fabric for the Metaverse. As a reminder, I’ve shifted from Medium to Substack. It’s better to build our online community there — and would love to see you over there!

Amidst the talk of optimizing the production pipeline for narrative, 2D art and even 3D — I thought that one of the more intriguing areas for game development and virtual worlds is in bringing generative AI directly into the gameplay loop. That’s the subject of my latest post: Game Design Ideas for GenAI Please enjoy the article. I’m posting my new content over at Substack now, and would love to hear from you over there!