Blizzard Asked ChatGPT For Next WoW Expansion And It Gave A Horrible Answer

World of Warcraft director Ion Hazzikostas has said that he isn't worried about AI potentially replacing him after using ChatGPT and receiving a bad answer as to what the next expansion should be.

In a recent interview with IGN, Hazzikostas discussed the latest Dragonflight patch, Embers of Neltharion, and spoke about the recent surge of AI tools in creative spaces. When the topic of the AI chatbot ChatGPT came up, the director said that when he first gained access, he tested it out and asked the tool what the next World of Warcraft expansion should be about.

"I kid you not, the number one prompt it returned to me… was 'Return to the Shadowlands,'" Hazzikostas said. "So I feel like I have pretty good job security, not too worried about ChatGPT replacing me anytime soon."

Hazzikostas and World of Warcraft executive producer Holly Longdale continued to discuss the use of AI, with the director confirming that for years, aspects of the MMO's art pipeline have been using machine learning. Hazzikostas said that it's "just automating really arduous, painful tasks like fitting helms around Blood Elf ears and so forth, where it's more just, let's free up some time so that our really talented artists can make more amazing creative art instead of doing that fiddly work."

"When we're talking about living in a world that we want to feel alive, there's a lot of opportunity there," Longdale added. "We are so focused on excellence in the craft, in our design that we want to make sure that everything has our human touch. But I do think there's a lot of opportunity in an interactive space to see what the opportunities are. And we have for quite some time now.

"AI is… not new to us in our day-to-day. And evolution in AI is certainly going to help us, but it's always been here."

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight patch 10.1, Embers of Neltharion, will allow players to explore deep underneath the Dragon Isles to the Zaralek Caverns, where they'll also work to uncover the mysteries hidden within the secret laboratory of Deathwing.