While AI can streamline the video game development process, it would never be able to create a very good Grand Theft Auto game, according to Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick, as current models lack something very important.
Speaking about AI usage in video game development at CNBC's Technology Executive Council Summit in New York on October 28, the CEO of Rockstar Games' parent company made it clear that the current models would be unable to create a very good Grand Theft Auto game. For starters, using AI to create intellectual property creates issues not only with protecting one's own but also with respecting other's properties.
Even if there were no constraints on AI, it wouldn't be possible to create a very good Grand Theft Auto game, according to Strauss Zelnick. "Could we push a button tomorrow and create an equivalent to the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ marketing plan? The answer is no. A, you can’t do that yet, and B, I am of the view that you wouldn’t end up with anything very good. You end up with something pretty derivative," he said.
What would prevent AI from making a very good Grand Theft Auto game is the lack of creativity, which is inherent to all AI models. These predictive models based on data sets of old information can work relatively well in certain fields, but not in the creation of the "multi-layered universes that Take-Two’s video games have become known for," Strauss Zelnick said.
"The team’s creativity is extraordinary, and what Rockstar Games tries to do, and so far has done over and over again, is create something that approaches perfection. There is no creativity that can exist by definition in any AI model, because it is data-driven,” Zelnick concluded.
Although the Take-Two CEO makes an extremely valid point, the video game industry seems divided on the usage of AI. EA is pushing heavily for its employees to use AI for basically every task, ranging from coding to QA, while others, such as Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai and Metal Gear and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima, see it as a tool to make large game development sustainable in the future and enhance creativity.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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