Saber Interactive has confirmed that its forthcoming taxi game Rideshare “Stimulator” will use generative AI for dialogue and voices in an experimental free-ride mode, while denying that it replaced former lead writer Stella Sacco with ChatGPT. The dispute matters because it raises questions about the use of AI in game development, the effect on creative roles and whether the game’s Steam listing adequately discloses its technology.

Sacco said Saber replaced her with ChatGPT during development and that passenger voices were AI-generated. Saber said the game’s main story was written entirely by people, its writing staff has tripled since 2023, and none of its more than 3,000 employees is being replaced by AI; it said LLMs and voice generation are needed to provide effectively unlimited conversations for randomly generated passengers. Rock Paper Shotgun noted that Rideshare’s Steam page did not mention this AI use, despite Valve’s disclosure policy.