Roblox Announces Open Source AI Tool That Builds 3D Environments From Text

Scott J Mulligan writes for MIT Technology Review: Roblox plans to roll out a generative AI tool that will let creators make whole 3D scenes just using text prompts, it announced today. Once it's up and running, developers on the hugely popular online game platform will be able to simply write "Generate a race track in the desert," for example, and the AI will spin one up. Users will also be able to modify scenes or expand their scope -- say, to change a daytime scene to night or switch the desert for a forest. Although developers can already create similar scenes like this manually in the platform's creator studio, Roblox claims its new generative AI model will make the changes happen in a fraction of the time. It also claims that it will give developers with minimal 3D art skills the ability to craft more compelling environments. The firm didn't give a specific date for when the tool will be live.

[...] The new tool is part of Roblox's push to integrate AI into all its processes. The company currently has 250 AI models live. One AI analyzes voice chat in real time and screens for bad language, instantly issuing reprimands and possible bans for repeated infractions. Roblox plans to open-source its 3D foundation model so that it can be modified and used as a basis for innovation. "We're doing it in open source, which means anybody, including our competitors, can use this model," says [Anupam Singh, vice president of AI and growth engineering at Roblox]. Getting it into as many hands as possible also opens creative possibilities for developers who are not as skilled at creating Roblox environments. "There are a lot of developers that are working alone, and for them, this is going to be a game changer, because now they don't have to try to find someone else to work with," says [Marcus Holmstrom, CEO of The Gang, a company that builds some of the top games on Roblox].

I did not see that coming, but welcome

[drinkypoo]

Roblox plans to open-source its 3D foundation model so that it can be modified and used as a basis for innovation. "We're doing it in open source, which means anybody, including our competitors, can use this model," says [Anupam Singh, vice president of AI and growth engineering at Roblox].

That's a welcome surprise. This would be a lovely addition to minetest.

AI output

[backslashdot]

AI output needs to be easily human editable. Otherwise, it's going to be insanely hard to prompt it to make custom stuff especially if we need it to make architectural or engineering models.

Re: AI output

[phantomfive]

Roblox already has a lot of user editable things, that's kind of the whole point. It doesn't actually matter if the output is crap because so is most of the stuff on Roblox.

Re: AI output

[Design Counts]

Correct! It's awful. Never understood the success of Roblox.

Re: AI output

[dj245]

It's an video game store where all the games run in the same engine, and your character model is consistent across worlds. And it's free to play most games. That makes it extremely popular with people who don't have any money, such as children. But if they are good little boys and girls grandma will buy them a gift card and thats basically the revenue model

Re:

[geekmux]

AI output needs to be easily human editable. Otherwise, it's going to be insanely hard to prompt it to make custom stuff especially if we need it to make architectural or engineering models.

Uh, have you seen Minecraft?

”Custom stuff” would mean something with actual curves. Go ahead. Ask it to build you a woman. You’ll see why I’m laughing at your architectural concerns. God help structural art if we’re regressing that hard.

Open source? What is the catch?

[Anonymous Coward]

There is always a catch with Roblox and their Robux ponzi scheme.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to have a lot of positive things to say about them. It used to be that their games were very simple, allowing kids to play together the way they would given a play space and some toys. For example, a racing game might provide a race track and some cars, but wouldn't force anything else on the players. It was up to the kids to decide when a race would start and end, what it meant to win, and what was fair and what wasn't. If they didn't want to race, they could use that space for whatever game they

Re:

[Photo_Nut]

What started out as a nice little game, encouraging imaginative play and age-appropriate social interaction that gave everyone a chance to fully participate has been destroyed by capitalism, dark patterns, and perverts. We can do better. We know how to make nice things, we just need to learn how to defend them.

When you talk about the anonymous people on the internet, everyone is a perv. Roblox spends a ton of money each year trying to make the 70+ Million and growing daily active users "civil" to each other, but I hang out in the Discords with these people, and it's clear that nobody is watching the next generation, teaching them manners or even spelling when interacting with others on the internet. Otherwise Discord servers for very popular Roblox games wouldn't have squeaking voices join the voice chat, scream

Re:

[nicubunu]

My daughter is 11, she grew up over the Roblox age but still plays on it from time to time, in the same sandbox style as always. If the chat would be as you suggest, I feel kids wouldn't use it at all but go for parallel WhatsApp chats outside the platform.

don't know

[rrconan]

I wonder, can't this be a huge market ? infinite pool of younglings , with time on their hands...

Re:

[nicubunu]

Roblox is already a huge market and every kid I know who ever played Roblox dreamed at some point to create an own game.

Re:

[rrconan]

yeh, but now with AI(tm) , ins't that much more cool ? :-) I can almost see the hug influx of dollars from investors ...

Interest piqued

[Malay2bowman]

It will be nice if you can tell it to "create a house that has full sized bullet trains through the rooms" (Frogger while you just want to have an in-game midnight snack) or "create a stunt track full of jumps with a giant mountain to base jump a car/glider off of". or other hyper batshit but fun leven designs that you would never be able to experience in real life.

Seen it.

[Foundling]

In 1994 this was called POV-Ray.