AI Enthusiasm
Artificial Intelligence. It feels like we talk about this topic non-stop some weeks. Each week however, only seems to present us with new developments within this technology that makes it all the more threatening to creative roles across the board. And we aren’t the only ones sounding the alarm on this rising tide.
Jakin Vela, IGDA executive director says that when “studio heads or executives think that AI should be replacing workers, that is the concern,” and I couldn’t agree more. From writers to coders to voice actors, everyone in the industry is probably feeling more than a little trepidation. Yoko Taro, the creative director of Nier: Automata, recently did an interview to promo an upcoming game of his – Hundred Line – and he discussed the use of AI in game dev and how he feels it will impact creative roles. His bleak outlook? He thinks that “AI will make all game creators unemployed,” and that reality is probably less than a generation away.
And a visit to the 2025 GDC can showcase the growing popularity of AI well enough. Where VR was once the next big trend, it’s now AI that has taken over the space with increasing enthusiasm. Just as an example, Yann Frachi, CEO of Ovomind, revealed new tech that feeds measurements taken via wristband into a “generative AI model in the cloud” to gauge a player’s emotions and integrate it into the gaming environment. And it’s exciting from a gamer’s perspective to see new innovations like this, but from a skeptic’s POV it’s just more AI being integrated into places we’ll never get it out from again.
Folks like Louis Castle hope AI can help speed up game development processes and keep studios profitable. Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang, is urging US industry, from government down, to up their AI research to better compete with places like China who are going all in on the tech. Also jumping on the positive-AI-potential bandwagon are folks like Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, and Josef Fares, director of It Takes Two, who respectively think that AI could lead to increased employment and that devs should work with AI rather than against it.
Josef Fares goes on to call AI “both scary and very exciting,” and I personally feel the same. While as a tool it could be industry changing in terms of productivity and opening doors to new developers, AI is a mixed bag that – I think – comes with more downsides than upsides at this particular point in time. More specifically, I feel that the responsible use of AI is where we’re going to see the most issues. Why spend more money when AI can do it cheaper, after all? And my biggest concern is that studio execs will consider this same question and opt for that cheaper option.
Regardless, whether you’re a seasoned dev or just starting out, I have a simple piece of advice: keep an eye on AI.
