The adaptation ofThe Last of Usinto a television series has been welcomed by many, with the show treating the source material with respect, but a VFX company has wondered what it would be like if artificial intelligence turned it back into a game. With the rise ofAI technology such as ChatGPTbeing a hot topic at the moment, gamers, artists, and others in the creative industries are either expressing their joy over what machine learning can achieve or sharing their dismay over the potential for loss of that human element in art.As for Naughty Dog’s award-winning franchise,The Last of Usis considered one of thegreatest post-apocalyptic games of all time. Although mixed into the already diluted zombie genre, its captivating story and compelling character development made it a landmark release back in 2013. While the second installment did split audiences somewhat, with a few criticizing some of the story elements, it was still a critically acclaimed sequel. Then the remake of the first game came out, followed by the small screen adaptation.RELATED:The Last of Us Fan Creates a Stunning Lightbox Featuring Joel and EllieHBO’s take onThe Last of Usseems to be succeeding where others, such as theResident EvilNetflix series, have all but been forgotten. But to make the circle complete, YouTube channel Corridor Digital decided to see whether artificial intelligence could work its magic on the TV show in order to turn it back into a game. Using “cutting edge technology,” the team set the algorithm to task, converting the visuals of the adaptation into something more digital. Obviously, this is just meant as a joke, but the tech involved does look impressive, with the real-life cast almost looking like their video game counterparts when run through the AI.
Corridor Digital is known for its parody videos involving special effects, such as when theVFX crew turnedHarry Potterinto an R-rated flick. However, some feel this recentTLoUvideo is a tone-deaf moment for the team, as Corridor were hit with backlash recently after the short AI generated animeRock Paper Scissorsopened the crew up to criticism. While some feel animation created by AI is a marvel of modern technology, others believe it could threaten the future of real animators.
In any case, Corridor’sThe Last of Usvideo does show what’s possible with the current technology at people’s disposal. It may be just a joke, but it does fit right into the ongoing discussion about where machine learning should stand when it comes to generating works of art without human input.
The Last of Us Part 1is currently available on PS5 and will be available for PC on June 17, 2025.
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