John Carmack Defends Microsoft’s AI-Generated Quake II Level

Following Microsoft’s announcement regarding how its AI Copilot can inspire players to conquer games, the technology giant introduced a demonstration of a Quake II level that was entirely generated by AI. Reactions from the gaming community have varied from criticism to outrage, yet the showcase received notable support from John Carmack, one of the developers and co-founders of the iconic Quake.

Geoff Keighley, from The Game Awards, shared the demonstration on X, leading to predominantly adverse feedback. In response, Carmack defended the demo, stating that “AI tools will enable professionals to reach even greater heights while empowering smaller teams to achieve more and attract entirely new demographics of creators. Yes, we will eventually reach a point where an interactive game (or novel or film) can be produced from a prompt, but there will still be far superior examples of the medium crafted by dedicated teams of passionate developers. The world will be immensely richer in terms of the content accessible at any given price point.”

Carmack acknowledged that AI might lead to fewer employment opportunities for game developers, but he suggested that “it could follow the trajectory of agriculture, where labor-saving technology enables a small portion of the previous workforce to meet the demand.” He addressed the anti-AI sentiment by pointing out that “not utilizing power tools due to job loss is not a viable strategy.”

Microsoft has made available the Quake II AI demo online, which can be played for free. While the demo is relatively limited compared to later installments of the franchise and does not match the quality of a human-crafted level, the concern from some players and developers appears to be about the underlying implications.