Microsoft Pledges to Use ‘Minecraft’ for Evil With Copilot AI

Microsoft has been vocal lately about how its Copilot AI will soon be used on PCs — like , the underlying technology still needs humans, but who’s going to be left after automation?

While it doesn’t compare to AI’s environmental consequences and the threat to people’s livelihoods, Copilot integration could ultimately change games themselves. Maybe it’s just me, but I want to actually play the games that I enjoy, not have an AI give me a list of chores to do in them. It will be down to individual players to decide if they want to use a city’s worth of electricity to save themselves from having to type “how to craft sword Minecraft” into Google, but it’s not hard to imagine that developers could be pressured to lean into AI integration. Imagine a game with as many secrets as Elden Ring, but designed to force players into consulting with an AI for answers rather than seeking them out for themselves.

Developers would also need to be on board for injecting AI into their games, which is something even Microsoft may have trouble convincing them to do. Unless, of course, Microsoft were to do something like buy up a bunch of existing companies, in which case it could simply force Copilot integration on them before laying off their entire staff and discarding the once-beloved studios like empty peanut shells.

Hanging above all these potential consequences is one simple question: Why? Maybe I’m not looking in the right places, but I’ve never seen a single person ask for anything like this proposed AI integration, or lament that it’s hard to find information about popular games. It is, in fact, extraordinarily easy to find everything from detailed breakdowns of every weapon in a game’s arsenal or step-by-step walkthroughs for every one of its quests.

Just like most uses of generative AI, Copilot’s gaming integration is motivated by nothing other than a tech giant’s pathological desire to extend itself into every aspect of your life. We may not be able to stop Microsoft or any other company from shoving AI in our faces at every turn, but we can at least mitigate the worst impact by loudly refusing to engage with them. And if you’re really that desperate to make a sword in Minecraft, you just put two ingots on top of a stick. You’re welcome.