We can’t argue with Shuhei Yoshida’s statement: creativity is essential.

The former head of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios (currently headed by ex-Guerrilla Games head Hermen Hulst under its new guise, PlayStation Studios) is relatively optimistic about AI. In an interview with The Guardian, BAFTA Fellowship Award winner Yoshida said that he believes it will be human talent, not technology or business models, that will define the future.

He recently looked at fifteen game concepts at an indie game development event, and one concept impressed him because it had stunning, fantastic graphics, even though a small team of students created it. They used Midjourney to create the artwork: “That is powerful that a small number of young people can create an amazing-looking game. In the future, AI could develop interesting animations, behaviors, even debug for your program,” said Yoshida.

He said artificial intelligence is a tool, and someone has to use it. It can create bizarre things, but you only need the right person (artist, musician, programmer) to use it. Yoshida believes that AI will reduce costs and make game development more accessible because it will allow people not technologically savvy to do it: “In the end, the development will be more efficient, and more beautiful things will be made by people. People might not even need to learn programming anymore if they have learned how to use these tools of the future. Creativity is more important, the direction, how you envision what you want,” Yoshida added.

Finally, a thought for everyone to think about: he believes that the gaming industry’s future would be very dull if all games were to adopt a live service model and that he would be happy if the industry were looking for creative ideas. But Sony has also latched onto the live-service ice cream…

Source: PCGamer, WCCFTech