How GTA 6 Will Look on PS5 and Xbox if Sony AI Censorship Tool is Approved

In case you missed it, Sony has filed a patent for a new AI censorship tool in games, and it has big implications for titles such as Grand Theft Auto VI.

The new AI tool will apparently be used on all platforms, not just PlayStation. So Xbox and Nintendo will also benefit from it if both companies choose to use it.

In terms of its actual use it’ll essentially be a glorified blur tool. Obscuring things in games that shouldn’t be seen by younger eyes.

Now I’m all for censorship when it’s in the interest of protecting people but there are a number of problems with this already, not just the fact it’ll encourage more AI usage in games.

Censorship of GTA 6

Using GTA VI as an example it should be pretty obvious why this tool is a poor idea. The Grand Theft Auto series has always been about pushing boundaries and it’s been welded into several conversations about the negative impact games can have on society.

Level-headed individuals know games are just a bit of fun and aren’t to be taken seriously, which is why Grand Theft Auto can get away with in-game strip clubs and copious amounts of murder.

If you slap a load of censorship over GTA VI how much of GTA VI are you actually going to see by the time the tool has finished its work? Probably not much right?

Rockstar Games

Doesn’t that somewhat defeat the point of the game, and if the customer has paid for the full GTA VI experience is it not damning to then take a huge chunk of that experience away from them?

Let’s also talk about the elephant in the room. How easy is it going to be to circumvent this censorship?

This year consoles have started age-verification processes to ensure its users are of the right age for its games.

When a child gets a PlayStation or Xbox for Christmas what are the chances it’s actually set up in their name and contact info?

It’ll probably be under the parents so chances are this AI tool won’t deem censorship necessary unless it does an age-check every time you boot up a game.

If this censorship is implemented on PC too, modders will find a way to bypass it in a matter of days, so how useful is this actually going to be?

We’ll have to wait and find out but as it stands this feels like a pointless exercise, and increased involvement from AI in games can’t be a good thing.