EA is pushing its employees to use AI for basically every task, but the results can be flawed, resulting in more work for developers.
Business Insider recently talked with current EA staff, who confirmed that the company's leadership has spent the past year or so pushing its 15,000 employees to use AI for virtually every task, from producing code and concept art for games to advising managers how to speak to staff about a certain number of topics, including pay or promotions.
The AI tools used to produce code are among those creating the most issues for developers. It is reported that these tools produce flawed code that requires manual fixing. Other developers are concerned about the AI software training they are expected to do with their own work, which could decrease the demand for concept artists and level designers.
Heavy AI usage also puts QA roles at risk. One former employee at Respawn, one of EA's biggest studios, said that they were laid off this Spring, along with around 100 other employees, because the company was using AI to review and summarize feedback from play testers, work previously conducted by human employees like the ones that were fired.
Although heavy AI usage in game development and related tasks poses a real danger to jobs in the field, not every developer is against its use. Masahiro Sakurai, creator of the Super Smash Bros. series, believes that using generative AI can improve efficiency and make large-scale development sustainable in the current age, especially in Japan, where the talent pool is getting smaller and smaller. Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear and Death Stranding series, also has a positive view on generative AI, seeing it as a way to boost efficiency while he can focus on the creative part of game development.
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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