After it was introduced that incoming Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma comes from a background in AI, many puzzled and nervous about what this might imply for the way forward for Xbox. In any case, a latest examine of sport builders discovered that extra builders than ever assume generative AI is unhealthy for gaming.
She advised Variety in an interview that she has “no tolerance for unhealthy AI.” Earlier than this, in a memo to workers, Sharma stated, “We won’t chase short-term effectivity or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop.”
It stays to be seen what any of this implies in apply, nonetheless. What some might name “unhealthy AI” or “soulless AI slop” may be seen otherwise by totally different individuals, in spite of everything.
For what it is price, Microsoft stated years in the past that it wished to place AI into each product it makes, and each Sharma’s predecessor Phil Spencer and outgoing Xbox president Sarah Bond spoke enthusiastically about AI in sport improvement for Xbox going ahead, so this isn’t a brand new factor.
Sharma additionally just lately responded to accusations that her X account was really run by AI, pushing again with a silly reference to being a robot.
Additionally within the Selection interview, Sharma briefly mentioned the sorts of video games she hopes to see Microsoft make beneath her watch. She stated he desires to assist her groups construct video games with “deep emotional resonance” and a “distinct perspective.” She pointed to 2016’s Firewatch for example of a sport that makes individuals “really feel one thing.”
Sharma labored at Microsoft from 2011-2013 in a advertising and marketing function earlier than serving to create the corporate Porch Group from 2013-2017. She then joined Meta to grow to be the VP of product and engineering for the favored Messenger service. In 2021, she joined Instacart as its COO and helped take it public.
Shen then re-joined Microsoft in 2024 because the president of the CoreAI product, a division of the expertise large that labored on a wide range of AI merchandise. Along with her function as CEO of Microsoft Gaming at this time, Sharma is on the board of administrators at The Residence Depot and Coupang.