The topic of generative artificial intelligence in video games is a hot one right now. Electronic Arts and Krafton, for example, have made numerous changes within their companies to shape their strategy around AI.
Other companies, such as Take-Two Interactive, are taking a more cautious approach. This is the position taken by Strauss Zelnick, CEO of the publisher responsible for Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands, and Mafia. Without saying he is « reluctant » to AI, the businessman believes that its impact on game production remains « limited ».
For him, AI is just a set of data and acts as a « retrospective ». It will therefore always fail in terms of creativity.
« Let’s imagine that there are no constraints [on AI]. Could we press a button tomorrow and create the equivalent of Grand Theft Auto, complete with a marketing plan, and be done with it? The answer is no. First, it’s not yet possible, and second, I don’t think the result would be very good. We would end up with something very mundane.
Whether Silicon Valley likes it or not, AI relies on vast data sets, considerable computing power, and a complex language model. But by definition, what is a data set? It’s a retrospective analysis.
AI excels at anything involving retrospective data processing and language models, and this applies to many of Take-Two’s activities. On the other hand, for anything unrelated to this, it will perform very poorly… By definition, no AI model can incorporate creativity, since it is entirely data-driven. »
Strauss Zelnick dismissed the idea of an entirely AI-generated GTA and praised the work of the developers at Rockstar Games.
« The team’s creativity is extraordinary, and what Rockstar Games is trying to do, and has succeeded in doing time and time again, is to create something that borders on perfection. »
