Artificial intelligence continues to be a significant topic of discussion in the realm of gaming and beyond, and recently, the CEO of GTA’s parent company Take-Two has shared his perspective. Strauss Zelnick indicated in an interview that artificial intelligence could be utilized as a digital tool to assist humans, and that job numbers would rise in the long run as a result.
“Artificial intelligence is a contradiction in terms; it simply doesn’t exist. Machine learning… machines do not learn,” he stated in an interview with GI.biz. “These are simplified ways to explain to people what seems like magic. Ultimately, these are digital tools, and we have been using digital tools for a long time.”
He further remarked: “I firmly believe that what is labeled AI today will enhance our business efficiency and enable us to produce better work, but it won’t lead to a decrease in employment.”
Zelnick also noted that history has repeatedly shown that the advent of new digital technologies somehow results in more job creation, heightened productivity, and overall GDP growth. “I believe that is what will transpire with AI. I predict that the video game industry will be at the forefront, if not the leading edge, of AI adoption,” he stated.
Others within the gaming industry, such as EA CEO Andrew Wilson and Microsoft’s Brad Smith, have acknowledged that advancements in AI will result in job losses in the short term while promoting job growth over the longer horizon.
Previously, Zelnick expressed that people are exaggerating the capabilities and power of AI technologies. “It’s not going to allow someone to request, ‘Please create a competitor to Grand Theft Auto that surpasses Grand Theft Auto’, and then they simply launch it digitally and that will be the end of it. People may attempt, but that won’t happen,” Zelnick remarked.
The executive further stated that AI technologies might be akin to a hand calculator. Years ago, people worried that hand calculators would imply that youth wouldn’t need to learn math, but that was not the case. “The reality is yes, you still need to learn math; it turns out, you absolutely have to learn math, but you have a tool that makes it easier. And ChatGPT is similar,” he added.
Additionally, in the interview, Zelnick mentioned that Take-Two’s efforts in the AI field will not infringe upon individuals’ intellectual property, contrary to some allegations. For example, OpenAI is currently being sued by The New York Times over claims that the AI organization used its data to train its expansive model.