Wild GTA 5 Mod Adds NPCs You Can Actually Talk To

Summary

A new GTA 5 mod called "Sentient Streets" allows players to have conversations with NPCs using a microphone, creating a more immersive and interactive gaming experience.
The mod utilizes artificial intelligence and over 30 AI models to interpret players' questions and generate voice responses in real-time, adding role-playing elements to the game.
The mod features a unique story involving a cult that believes they are living within a game and worship an AI as their god, offering players the opportunity to investigate crimes and interact with lifelike characters with distinct personalities.

A curious Grand Theft Auto 5 mod will make Los Santos even more immersive by adding the option of having conversations with NPCs using a microphone. The new mod uses artificial intelligence and, like many other projects that are employing generative AI, it shows gamers a glimpse of what the future of gaming may be.

Ever since ChatGPT was released and exploded in popularity last year, the world has been in an AI craze. Suddenly, there were tools promising automation for essentially everything, with results ranging from pretty good to lukewarm. The gaming world would obviously not be left out of this trend, and several modders started using AI to create new content on the spot for gamers.

A modder called Bloc recently released a new story mod for GTA 5 called “Sentient Streets.” The mod is powered by over 30 AI models that allow gamers to actually talk to the characters by using a microphone to ask questions, which will then be interpreted by the AI, and turned into actual voice responses (which are generated via AI text-to-speech programs). According to its creator, players will be able to have open-ended conversations with characters in real time, improving the game’s immersion with role-playing elements.

“Sentient Streets” comes with its own story, which involves a weird, deadly cult called The NihilAIsts. Hilariously, the cult is convinced they live within a game and worship an AI as their god. The player will control a police officer in Los Santos who will investigate some of the crimes happening, and be freely able to talk to other police officers, and cultists, for example. It’s possible to ask people’s names and learn more about their backgrounds, opinions, and so on. Different characters come with distinct personalities, and they act really lifelike, despite taking a few seconds to process the information before answering the player. The results are pretty impressive, and this mod looks like the perfect experience for players who want to improve their experience with GTA 5 mods.

Bloc’s new GTA 5 mod is just one among several examples of using generative AI in games. Some months ago, for example, one modder used AI to give Skyrim NPCs memories. This mod worked in a pretty similar way to “Sentient Streets,” by using ChatGPT and an AI called Whisper to interact with the player in dynamic ways and remember information about what happened before in the conversation.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.