AI Has Created The Story For The Last Of Us Part 3
If the Terminator movies have taught us anything, it's that we should be scared of technology overtaking mankind. We're all going to be out of a job soon, as AI is taking over.
More than just creating an airbrushed version of you for your next Twitter profile picture, AI can write or draw pretty much anything you want it to. And now, someone's used it to write The Last of Us Part 3.
What's The Story For The Last Of Us Part 2?
While 2013's The Last of Us is held as one of the greatest video games of all time, the critics were less kind to The Last of Us Part 2 in 2020. One of the big grumbles was the story, so can a robot do any better?
Over on Reddit, user u/wtfcommittee claims they asked AI to write an outline for The Last of Us Part 3, and to be honest, it isn't all bad. Whereas Part 2's themes were largely about hatred and revenge, this is more about sacrifice.
The AI version of this mythical The Last of Us Part 3 gives a redemptive arc to Part 2's Abby - who famously bludgeoned Joel to death with a golf club.
This story opens with Abby and Lev learning that the Fireflies plan on using Dina's son (JJ) to lure Ellie out of hiding and use her to find a cure for the Cordyceps infection.
Although Abby originally goes along with it all, she later feels remorse and decides to switch sides to protect Ellie. Apparently, Abby and Lev would "face many challenges and dangers along the way, including other survivors, the infected, and the oppressive government."
Abby dies when she crosses the Fireflies, but in her dying breath, delivers a stirring monologue to Ellie and says she regrets killing Joel with her dying breath.
After Abby's death, Lev and a group of survivors with "ancient medical knowledge" find a cure and no one is sacrificed. With the world potentially finding some form of normality, we imagine the story would end here.
Fans React To The Last Of Us Part 3 Story
It's all pretty standard stuff, so it's easy to forget a piece of AI has actually written this. In the comments, players were divided on whether they thought this was a work of art or made Part 2 look like the works of Shakespeare.
One critic joked, "The good thing is that we don’t have to worry about ai taking our jobs anytime soon!" Another added, "I think the AI took inspiration from a lot of cheesy fan fiction that wanted to rewrite TLoU2," and a third said, "Nobody would like this game because this writing is terrible, but I'm pretty impressed with the AI's ability to create a coherent narrative, even though it's a bad one."
Mainly, people laughed at the line where Abby says, "I love you Ellie," joking that even if being reformed, the complex character would never say that to her enemy.
There were supports though. When reminding us that Naughty Dog said the first game was about love and the second about hate, they explained, "I immediately thought when hearing that the third game would be about forgiveness, which is exactly what this AI wrote."
Last year, Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann said there's already a story for Part 3... even if it's not in active development. If we do move forward with The Last of Us Part 3, at least we know Abby actor Laura Bailey is willing to return to the role.