Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 recently had a couple of awards it had won revoked after an old interview in which it revealed it used generative AI re-emerged.
The French studio has since said it’ll never use the technology again, and all of its future games will be 100% human-made. It also promptly patched out the aforementioned assets, which ended up in the retail release of the game.
But directly referencing that saga, Level-5’s Akihiro Hino has shared his thoughts on the topic, and that he believes the technology has “the power to enrich the creative world”.
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He started out by saying he thinks many game developers are already incorporating generative AI into their development processes to improve efficiency, adding that he believes this to be true regardless of whether those teams disclose it or not.
In a translation published on ResetEra, he continued that he believes the technology can help developers reduce AAA development cycles from five-to-ten years to two.
He said:
“AI is sometimes treated as equivalent to plagiarism, but just like a knife can be used for cooking or as a weapon, or a computer can be used to create games or commit cybercrime, AI can also be misused to produce content that infringes on others' work. However, when used correctly, it has the power to enrich the creative world.”
The controversy at the core of all this is that generative AI is often trained on the work of existing content without consent. One particularly egregious example is the Studio Ghibli filter you’ve probably seen your friends and family use on Facebook.
There are also environmental concerns to consider here, with data centres predicted to require about 945 terawatts-hour by 2030 – equivalent to the entirety of Japan’s current electrical demands.
Hino, it appears, is not deterred by the concerns:
“I want to see and create games that go beyond today's AAA standards, games that feel like dreams come true. If we create the impression that ‘using AI is bad’, it could seriously hinder the progress of modern digital technology. I hope both creators and audiences can recognise AI as a tool that people use to create their work. I'm praying that with each technological innovation, the game industry continues to grow.”
This debate is only going to rage stronger as the technology becomes more embedded into all of our everyday lives.