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'Diarrhea from a butt': Kojima fans fume over AI Prada video
Another day, another infuriating instance of generative AI slop on social media. Only this time, one of the stars of the show is one of gaming's most venerated creators: Hideo Kojima. Alongside his Death Stranding collaborator, the Danish filmmaker Nicholas Winding Refn, Kojima appears in a 90-second teaser for a six-minute short film promoting Prada Mode, a pop-up nightclub from the fashion label. Kojima's fans aren't happy about his involvement in the project, and they're making those feelings abundantly clear on social media. In the teaser shared on Refn's X account, Kojima and Refn play space travelers in '60s-inspired silver suits who pilot a silver saucer. After an impeccably stylish session of what appears to be space checkers, a siren wails and their spacecraft very gently crashes on a nearby planet. The duo emerge from a pool of green water and make exertion noises near a large gray octopus without actually fighting it. Then, their craft is telepathically lifted from the water by an attractive blonde woman (but of course) who appears to be levitating colorful rocks with her mind. The spacemen continue on their journey and stop in New York City, presumably to attend the Prada Mode activation at the Chelsea Hotel from June 3-7. Okay, sure. "Throughout our extended friendship, Hideo Kojima and I have shared the feeling that we were somehow split from the same consciousness moving through different lives while orbiting the same obsessions. That idea became the spark for a film: a space odyssey following us as we traverse a sci-fi dreamscape," said Winding Refn in a statement to Women's Wear Daily, which first reported the story. "Created in collaboration with Prada, the project is both an artistic experiment and a playful exploration of new creative possibilities through AI technology." That last bit, about "playful exploration of new creative possibilities through AI technology" rubbed quite a few people the wrong way. Over on X, commenters did not hold back their frustration at two revered creators using AI. "Heartbreaking to see such great artists resort to generative AI slop," wrote one. "Hey @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN I'm a huge fan, love everything you've ever done, except for this. Please never involve yourself with AI slop ever again. You're better than this. said another. Newsletter: Smart context on AI and creative work Subscribe to the newsletter for clear, expert coverage of AI in creative fields - games, film, fashion - and thoughtful analysis of controversies, technological uses, and what AI adoption means for creators and creative practice. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. There are plenty of good zingers to be found here, but this one is my personal favorite: "Oh buddy this is ass. This is diarrhea from a butt." Kojima hasn't talked at great length about the role of AI technology in creative mediums, though he hasn't ruled out using it in his own work. "Rather than having AI create visuals or anything like that, I'm more interested in using AI in the control systems," Kojima told CNN in December 2025. "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." I watched Hideo Kojima's favorite new sci-fi movie, and it blew me away A hard-hitting futuristic noir that evokes the golden age of anime Posts 5
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Hideo Kojima and Nicolas Winding Refn have teamed up for a Prada mode event teaser exploring "new creative possibilities through AI technology"
Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn have teamed up again after Death Stranding 2, but they aren't working on a new game or movie. Instead, they've released a short made with the help of AI tools for Prada. The "teaser film" - which you can (partially) watch here - was revealed this week at the 79th Cannes Film Festival by Prada. It's meant to promote an upcoming mode event in New York next month even if the setting and vibes are purely sci-fi and retro-inspired. The full thing runs for six minutes and shows Refn and Kojima themselves travelling through space and crashing on a hostile planet, but the teaser released online is much shorter. Though the creative process hasn't been fully explained, this "artistic experiment" was "a playful exploration of new creative possibilities through AI technology" because getting two people in a couple of old-fashioned sets was probably too expensive for Prada. At some point in the video, Kojima subtly morphs into a guy that's clearly not him. In any case, Refn sounds quite proud about the duo's Satellites II short, calling it "a space odyssey following us as we traverse a sci-fi dreamscape". At the time of writing, it's unclear what Kojima has to say about the endeavour, but Refn has also added they "have shared the feeling that we were somehow split from the same consciousness moving through different lives while orbiting the same obsessions", which forced me to do a double take. Unsurprisingly, the online reactions are mostly negative: "All right then, Mr. Kojima, have fun in the festering slop pit with the rest of the AI weirdos," a ResetEra user commented. "First Kojima shot is 50% Kojima, 50% Pedro Pascal," another post pointed out. Even the folks over at X are feeling bad about this: "Heartbreaking to see such great artists resort to generative AI slop."
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Hideo Kojima Collaborates With Prada On AI Slop Short Film
Hideo Kojima, the celebrated director behind Metal Gear and Death Stranding, is a known movie sicko. Now that he’s got the cache to do so, he’s been making some pivots to work on movies alongside games, like the upcoming Death Stranding film. But before he actually makes a movie, he’s working with fashion company Prada and Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn, the face of Heartman in the Death Stranding series, on a short film. But don’t get too excited, as it’s a piece of AI-generated slop. The short film is part of Prada's upcoming Mode event taking place in New York from June 3 to 7, and it "stars" Winding Refn and Kojima as space travelers doing things that barely cohere as a story and eventually ending up at the Chelsea Hotel where the Prada event will take place next month. Winding Refn released a short teaser of the full six-minute video, and it’s more than enough to see that it’s a nostalgia play desperately clinging to the aesthetic of â€~50s sci-fi movies, and also looks like shit. “Throughout our extended friendship, Hideo Kojima and I have shared the feeling that we were somehow split from the same consciousness moving through different lives while orbiting the same obsessions,†Winding Refn said in a statement about the project. That idea became the spark for a film: a space odyssey following us as we traverse a sci-fi dreamscape. Created in collaboration with Prada, the project is both an artistic experiment and a playful exploration of new creative possibilities through AI technology.â€Â Gross. Looking at it, I’m somewhat surprised Kojima signed off on the short film considering how awkward and stilted it looks, but he has gone on record as saying he thinks AI will be just as significant to game development as the jump to 3D was, and that he thinks of the plagiarism machine as “a friend,†so maybe this passes the smell test for him. I think he should get better friends, like human beings who could do the work he and Winding Refn are trying to avoid entirely by putting prompts in a generator to make it look like they went on cool space adventures in an effort to jingle keys in front of out-of-touch rich people who can’t stop pontificating about how cool it is that we’re ripping the humanity out of all our art to cut costs.
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Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn unveiled an AI-generated short film for Prada Mode, triggering widespread criticism from fans on social media. The six-minute promotional video, described as exploring new creative possibilities through AI technology, features the duo as retro-futuristic space travelers but has been dismissed as AI slop by the gaming community.
Hideo Kojima, the acclaimed creator behind Metal Gear and Death Stranding, has found himself at the center of a heated controversy following the release of a Prada promotional short film created with AI technology. The six-minute video, produced in collaboration with Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, was unveiled at the 79th Cannes Film Festival to promote the Prada Mode event taking place at New York's Chelsea Hotel from June 3-7
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. The teaser showcases Kojima and Refn as space travelers in 1960s-inspired silver suits, navigating a sci-fi dreamscape that includes spacecraft crashes, encounters with a gray octopus, and telepathic interventions from a levitating blonde woman1
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Source: Eurogamer
What was intended as an artistic experiment has instead ignited fierce fan backlash across social media platforms, with critics denouncing the use of generative AI in creative fields. The Nicolas Winding Refn collaboration, which he described as exploring "new creative possibilities through AI technology," has been widely dismissed as "AI slop" by gaming and film enthusiasts who expected more from two revered creators
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.The response on social media has been swift and unforgiving. Fans flooded platforms like X with criticism, expressing disappointment that Kojima would participate in such a project. "Heartbreaking to see such great artists resort to generative AI slop," one commenter wrote, while another pleaded directly: "Hey @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN I'm a huge fan, love everything you've ever done, except for this. Please never involve yourself with AI slop ever again. You're better than this"
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. The controversy has sparked broader conversations about AI in creative fields and whether established artists should embrace or resist these technologies.Observers noted technical issues with the footage, including moments where Kojima appears to morph into someone who "clearly not him," highlighting the uncanny valley effect common in AI-generated content
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. One particularly colorful critique described the work as "diarrhea from a butt," capturing the visceral negative reaction many fans experienced1
. Even on ResetEra, users commented: "All right then, Mr. Kojima, have fun in the festering slop pit with the rest of the AI weirdos"2
.While Kojima hasn't publicly addressed the Prada Mode event controversy directly, his previous statements reveal a nuanced perspective on AI technology. In a December 2025 interview with CNN, he clarified his interest lies primarily in gameplay mechanics rather than visual generation. "Rather than having AI create visuals or anything like that, I'm more interested in using AI in the control systems," Kojima explained. "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"
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Source: Polygon
Yet Kojima has also described AI as "a friend" and suggested it could be as transformative to game development as the shift to 3D graphics
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. This apparent contradiction between his stated preferences and his participation in the Prada project has left many wondering whether commercial partnerships might influence his creative choices in ways that conflict with his artistic principles.Related Stories
The artistic experiment has reignited debates about whether AI tools democratize creativity or simply enable shortcuts that bypass human artists and craftspeople. Critics argue that the Prada promotional short film represents exactly what's wrong with AI adoption in creative industries—wealthy brands and celebrities using generative AI to cut costs while "ripping the humanity out of all our art," as one analysis put it
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. The fact that two established creators with substantial resources chose AI over traditional filmmaking techniques has particularly stung fans who view it as unnecessary and artistically bankrupt.As AI continues infiltrating fashion, film, and game development, the Kojima-Prada controversy serves as a test case for how audiences will respond when beloved creators embrace these technologies. With Death Stranding 2 and other projects on the horizon, fans will be watching closely to see whether Kojima incorporates similar AI techniques into his future work or if this remains an isolated misstep in an otherwise distinguished career.
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