What role does Augmented Intelligence currently play in your respective sectors?
Éric Marchiol - AI is the third wave of digital transformation in our industry. We started out by developing agile applications, so that employees could access information in the workshop. Then we collected data from the machines for analysis. Today, we can apply sophisticated machine learning and augmented intelligence algorithms to this data, to help assess quality problems, reduce breakdowns and predict vehicle failures.
Guillaume Merlini - AI has been around for a very long time in the video game industry. It was mostly used to enhance “non-player character” behaviour and create a more fun, immersive experience. But the technology sometimes hits its limits, producing often predictable characters.
How has AI become key to development? What new relationship does it create with users, both employees and gamers?
Éric Marchiol - Augmented intelligence has become an inescapable tool for our industry. In predictive maintenance, it will assist us, for example, in assessing breakdowns, by analysing historical data on failures of robots or presses, and in after-sales, by analysing incidents experienced by customers. Without requiring advanced expertise, it will save our teams an enormous amount of time, meaning they can devote themselves to other, higher value-added tasks.
Guillaume Merlini - In gaming, AI is used to enhance the user experience to make it more personalized and bring greater variety, especially through dialogue, interaction and combat, for example in role-playing games (RPGs). By diversifying AI behaviours to make them less predictable, this not only increases the immersive feel but also the game’s duration.
How did your two worlds meet?
Éric Marchiol - We launched the “Renault Group Factory Championship”, a challenge aimed at our industrial sites. With GamersOrigin, we invited our employees to enter the world of video games – a fun way of approaching a very tech-oriented universe. As we’re on the lookout for talent, this project helped to mobilise our young hires and bridge the gap with our older employees.
Guillaume Merlini - And what we have in common is our firm belief that AI remains, and must remain, a tool used to serve the creativity of our staff. In our case, it means developing unique non-player characters, without ever replacing human ingenuity and skills.
