The Last Of Us director and Naughty Dog studio head Neil Druckmann believes “AI is really going to revolutionize how content is being created”.
In an interview with Sony, he said: “AI will allow us to create nuanced dialogues and characters, expanding creative possibilities”. He went on to state “[AI] does bring up some ethical issues we need to address”, but didn’t mention any of them in the interview.
Some ethical concerns surrounding AI include the vast amounts of energy it takes to power the computers necessary for it and the lack of transparency with where large language models (LLMs) obtain the data they are trained on.
He praised AI in the interview for helping to reduce costs and technical hurdles alongside other tools. He further added that “the translation of game assets to other media will become easier as they become more realistic. You may be able to lift an environment from a game to put into other media directly”. This is similar to what people who believed strongly in the metaverse also said about it.
As well as AI, he praised “remote work tools” as they “have reduced travel and streamlined production processes. For example, I’ve been able to oversee the production of ‘The Last of Us’ Season Two from LA via phone or computer, while it shoots in Canada.”
However, despite where he thinks new technological tools will take the medium, Druckmann added that “mastering fundamentals over tools; with AI, your creativity sets the limits. Understanding art history, composition, and storytelling is essential for effective direction. Tools evolve quickly – Some tools once essential, now are obsolete.”
In other news, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has officially been named and revealed, with more information on the upcoming shooter set to come June 9.
