Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick can’t seem to make up his mind about AI. Previously stating that AI has no inherent creativity, subsequently laying off the company’s AI team just two weeks ago, he now seems to have U-turned on the subject. It’s unlikely any of this affects GTA 6, as Rockstar is a layer removed from its parent company, but Zelnick’s opinions on industry-shaping trends could cause ripples elsewhere.
“Everything we create is created in computers using tools. So, new tools are really, really exciting for our business,” he said at the Semafor World Economy summit this weekend. He also claims that advancements to the tech will be “a good thing” for Take-Two itself.
We have to assume that Take-Two’s position on GTA 6 remains unchanged. Adding AI to workflows to the sandbox game at this late stage would cause disaster, especially after Zelnick confirmed to investors that generative AI had played “zero part” in the game’s creation as of two months ago.
As we edge ever closer to the GTA 6 release date, fans are hanging on every word that comes out of bosses’ mouths, Zelnick included. While he didn’t have anything to say about the game itself, he tried to downplay the risks of AI and parroted the age-old tenet that ‘it’s here to stay.’
“I think people spend too much time talking about the, ‘Woe is me’ risk related to AI,” Zelnick says. “It is absolutely true that technology can be used for evil purposes. But the history of technology is, for better or for worse, it’s going to come along anyhow – you might as well embrace it. In my opinion, largely technology has been a great thing for humanity and I don’t think this will be any different.”
Zelnick suggests that generative AI will be used at Take-Two to eliminate mundane tasks, giving the example of creating a lawn. Developers no longer hand-draw every blade of grass, but he believes AI can supercharge the modernized process off “pressing the lawn button” to do the same thing but “on steroids.”
It all seems very contradictory and more than a little bit confusing. However, as players continue to speak out against the topic, and high-profile studios like Embark replace AI with human-made content because “it’s better,” I suspect we’ll start to see companies veer away from it. Take-Two has already done that – albeit at the cost of people’s jobs. Hopefully it continues to stay away.
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