Hideo Kojima opposes AI art creation but sees promise in enemy AI and control systems

Kojima won't use AI to create art, thinks it could be useful for responsive enemy design

TL;DR: Hideo Kojima opposes using AI for visual art creation but supports its application in enhancing enemy responsiveness and gameplay depth. Amid industry financial pressures and AI debates, Kojima envisions AI-driven adaptive enemies that react to individual player behavior, aiming to innovate interactive gaming experiences. Legendary creative Hideo Kojima has an unsurprising take on AI: The dev doesn't want to use it to create any kind of visual art, and thinks the technology could be used for things like enemy responsivity in games. Following record spending highs during COVID-19, the games industry has now simultaneously contracted while raising prices. Every publisher and developer is feeling the financial pressures, with many shedding workers en masse in an effort to improve margins and assuage shareholder fears. Everyone is looking for ways to save money and reduce labor costs; enter generative AI, new tech that could potentially even replace game developers. AI has proven to be significantly controversial, and rightly so, because video games are a full conjunction of all creative arts--static art, animation & motion capture, audio. The industry's workforce is one of creativity and developers are pushing back against AI, however teams have embraced the tech in a bid not to be left behind. This kind of motivation seems to be the main driver of AI's global adoption; no one wants to miss out on the Next Big Thing. Some, like Hideo Kojima, have no interest in using AI to generate art or help with creation. Kojima has been seen as a champion of the arts for his innovative melding of the gaming medium with film, with his games often redefining what kinds of cinematic experiences that video games can deliver. So it's no surprise then when Kojima speaks out against the use of AI for art creation--at least at his studio, Kojima Productions. The Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator would much rather use AI to create more interesting and reactive enemies for his games, maybe even the upcoming spy thriller PHYSINT that's in production with Sony Interactive Entertainment. In a recent interview with CNN, Kojima expressed how he'd best like to use AI: "Rather than having AI create visuals or anything like that, I'm more interested in using AI in the control systems. "For example, if you have 100 players, each of them will have their own habits and tendencies, their sense of control, how they move - all of that differs from person to person. "By having AI compensate for those differences, the gameplay can gain more depth. And in most games, the enemies don't behave very much like real humans. "But by using AI, enemy behavior could change based on the player's experience, actions and patterns. That kind of dynamic response would make much deeper gameplay possible."

Hideo Kojima Speaks on GenAI, Says He Is "More Interested in Using AI In the Control Systems," Than Using it to Create Visuals

Ever since Larian Studios' chief executive officer, Swen Vincke, admitted that the studio is using GenAI technology in its development pipeline for Divinity, the use of GenAI tech in video game development has roared back to the front of the line in the industry's discourse rolodex. Amidst the GenAI conversation Larian started, it appears that renowned creator Hideo Kojima also offered his perspective on GenAI in a recent interview. In an interview with CNN spotted by TweakTown (that actually went live a few days before Bloomberg's interview with Vincke), Kojima, perhaps unsurprisingly, said that he's not exactly interested in using GenAI technology to create anything visual. He doesn't dismiss it entirely, though, as he says he's more interested in how it could be used within the "control systems" of a game than anything else. "Rather than having AI create visuals or anything like that, I'm more interested in using AI in the control systems," Kojima began. "For example, if you have 100 players, each of them will have their own habits and tendencies, their sense of control, how they move - all of that differs from person to person." "By having AI compensate for those differences, the gameplay can gain more depth. And in most games, the enemies don't behave very much like real humans. But by using AI, enemy behavior could change based on the player's experience, actions, and patterns. That kind of dynamic response would make much deeper gameplay possible." The kind of AI Hideo Kojima is discussing here, particularly with enemy behaviors, is the kind that we are more than used to seeing in video games. Alien: Isolation famously has an incredibly sophisticated enemy AI system built for the Xenomorph, which was a key element of its gameplay that elevates it to being a truly terrifying horror game. His statement to CNN is also in line with the last time he was asked about GenAI, where he said he'd use it for "the tedious tasks" while he handled all the actual art. While some studios, Larian included, are comfortable using GenAI for art and visuals as part of the process, it seems clear that Kojima would much rather have it make the systems and the nitty-gritty elements of development run smoother, so he could focus on what he loves to do, and the thing that actually makes his games iconic.