TL;DR: Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick expressed skepticism about AI's revolutionary impact on the gaming industry, stating it won't necessarily make development cheaper, quicker, or better. However, he acknowledged AI's potential to handle mundane tasks, allowing developers more time for creativity.
The CEO of Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of some of the biggest gaming franchises on the market, such as Grand Theft Auto and Borderlands, has given his two cents on how AI will be implemented across the company's developers.
According to a recent interview with CNBC, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed that he isn't too convinced about how revolutionary AI is for the gaming industry. Zelnick says that he doesn't believe artificial intelligence will suddenly make development cheaper, quicker, better, or even improve the chances of hit games being released. Zelnick told the publication that Take-Two will remain realistic about how it will implement AI into its development pipeline.
Despite the sobering stance of believing AI is a tool and not the thing that is going to suddenly replace all developers, Zelnick does recognize its potential in freeing up a developer's time as the AI will be able to perform mundane tasks the developer otherwise would have had to do. Zelnick says AI will enable Take-Two's creative people to have less mundane tasks on their plate, allowing them more time to do what they do best - be creative.
"In terms of AI, the interactive entertainment business has been into AI forever," said Zelnick. "Let me just remind you, AI stands for 'artificial intelligence,' which is an oxymoron, there is no such thing."
"I would love to say that [AI is] going to make things cheaper, quicker, better, or easier to make hits," he says. "I don't think that's the case."
"What [AI] means is that our creative people will be able to do fewer mundane tasks and turn their attention to the really creative tasks," Zelnick continued. "The machines can't make the creative decisions for you."