Celebrated gaming auteur Hideo Kojima is making waves once again with statements about artificial intelligence. This time, sporting a bit of a new look in a recent interview, Kojima has said he sees AI as a boon that can help cut out what he describes as “tedious” tasks, helping developers to lower costs and produce games faster.
In an interview with Wired Japan (h/t Dexerto), Kojima described “a future where [he stays] one step ahead; creating together with AI,” referring to the tech as “a friend.” Kojima presents an optimistic perspective on how the tech can be used, not necessarily to lead the creative projects, but rather to assist with mundane tasks to “boost efficiency.”
It’s not the first time Kojima has opined on AI in the industry. Previously he described AI as potentially as significant a development for games as the shift from 2D to 3D. He also recently suggested that AI will likely be used to generate remakes and sequels. Though the most recent statements on the potential friendliness of AI are rather optimistic, Kojima’s own creative output might have something to say about that. AI and advanced technology has often been a focal point of Kojima’s creative works, though they’ve typically played an antagonistic role in his fictional worlds.
Kojima’s previous games were far from optimistic about AI
Kojima’s statements are disappointing for those of us concerned about the thorny issues of copyright in the context of artificial intelligence systems, the desire to replace human labor wholesale, and the inexcusable energy consumption that’s literally setting us back in our efforts to lessen the impact of climate change. But they also ring dissonantly with the game developer’s own artistic output, namely Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4, which speculate not just on the dangers of artificial intelligence, but how the messiness of human history, hierarchies, and internet behavior could use (and lose control of) such highly advanced tech.
Unravelling MGS2 and other MGS games is messy business; like Kojima’s recent works, they’re long, dense games. But the modern embrace of AI, which is already being used to efficiently produce propaganda and which folks who do not have humanity’s best interests in mind are strongly encouraging, sounds a hell of a lot like what we were being warned about while the digital Colonel Campbell lost his artificial mind in MGS2.
As Cory Doctorow once said, science fiction “is a literature that tells you how to prevent the bad tomorrows.” And while I appreciate Kojima’s optimism, I don’t think just seeing this tech “as a friend” is going to solve the ills of the bad today, much less the bad tomorrow.
