Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has discussed the ‘limited’ use of AI, saying it can only create ‘very derivative’ games.

The impact of generative AI on game development has become a big talking point in the industry, with companies like Microsoft and EA both leaning into it and reportedly forcing the technology onto employees. Even as developers like Obsidian resist using it for anything creative.

While there’s an argument that it can help speed up production when it comes to minor admin-orientated tasks, the more troubling aspect is when it creeps into the creative process through artwork, voiceovers, or game design at large.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, who oversees franchises like GTA, Borderlands, and NBA 2K, has commented on the impact of AI in game development, and while he’s not a ‘naysayer’, he believes its use is ‘limited’.

Zelnick’s first argument relates to the protection of intellectual property, with the use of AI potentially opening companies up to lawsuits from others. Similarly, he notes, ‘if you create intellectual property with AI, it’s not protectable.’

Secondly, Zelnick believes if you try to create a game in AI, you would end up with something ‘pretty derivative’ because the technology is ‘backward looking’.

‘Now, let’s say there were no constraints,’ Zelnick told CNBC. ‘Could we push a button tomorrow and say, create an equivalent to GTA and the marketing plan, and here it is. 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 any good and something pretty derivative.

‘Whether people in Silicon Valley like to hear this or not, AI is big datasets, with lots of compute, attached to a large language model. So what are datasets by definition? They’re backward looking.’

He added: ‘Anything that involves backward looking data compute, it’s really good for that and that applies to lots of stuff that we do at Take-Two, anything that isn’t attached to that, it’s going to be really bad at.’

Zelnick goes one step further, and says human civilisation at large doesn’t need to worry about any Terminator-style invasion.

‘So if you’re worried about AI-driven machines being evil, put your mind to rest,’ he added. ‘The only way that they’ll be evil is if they use backward looking data and they’ll be some predictive model coming out of it. But there is no creativity that can exist, by definition, in any AI model because it is data-driven.’

It’s a refreshing view from one of the most influential CEOs in the gaming industry, and a positive for anyone concerned about AI cropping up in GTA 6.

The next instalment in Rockstar’s mammoth franchise is set to launch on May 26 next year across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

There’s no generating this (Rockstar)

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