Most video game publishers seem to agree — to varying levels — that generative AI will have its uses in development. However, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick seems particularly sceptical about what it can achieve.
Speaking at a technology summit recently, Zelnick shared his views on large language models (LLMs) and their limitations for game development.
He says there are two major reasons that generative AI will remain limited in its applications with regard to creative projects like games — intellectual property and "backward-looking" data.
"We have to protect our intellectual property, but more than that, we have to be mindful of others,” Zelnick says, adding that IP created using AI is "not protectable".
He's concerned about people using these tools to generate media that may not only infringe on copyrighted assets, but could potentially infringe on people's rights as individuals — deepfake videos, for example.
To his other point, Zelnick says LLMs are inherently flawed in creative endeavours because of their "backward-looking data compute". Tech like this is unable to generate wholly original ideas because it's relying on banks of old, pre-existing media and information.
"Let’s say there were no constraints [on AI]. 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."
Essentially, what Zelnick is saying is that creative people are what drive success with franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands, and NBA 2K.
"The team’s creativity is extraordinary, and what [Take-Two subsidiary] Rockstar Games tries to do, and so far has done over and over again, is create something that approaches perfection," he says. "There is no creativity that can exist by definition in any AI model, because it is data-driven."
What do you think? Will entire games be generated by AI models in the future? Are Zelnick's concerns on the money, or do you disagree? Discuss in the comments section below.