"If you leave AI to its own devices, your work won't be exceptional" EA reportedly tells devs, despite a massive AI push following its $55 billion Saudi Arabian buyout

Despite an alleged company-wide AI rollout in recent months, EA leadership has reportedly told staff that AI should be used to "extend your ambition" rather than being left "to its own devices."

This comes from an internal presentation within EA Sports, parts of which Kotaku managed to review. Paul Marr, former head of franchise strategy and marketing in EA Sports, now VP and executive creative director at EA, gave the talk, discussing the Deluxe Edition cover for NHL 26 that used generative AI.

"Use AI to extend your ambition. If you leave AI to its own devices, your work won't be exceptional," says one of the slides. One of Coca-Cola's AI-generated advertisements is used as an example of "sloppy" output, though what it means to "extend your ambition" versus relying on it as a crutch is still vague, according to the report.

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The cover in question features Keith Tkachuk, a legendary hockey player, flanked by his two sons, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, both now pros in the sport. Keith is de-aged, while Matthew and Brady's images are totally composite because they were unavailable to be photographed. AI was utilized at different points to generate the cover.

As much is in line with purported mandates within Electronic Arts, where chatbots and artificial intelligence are now part of all processes, from creative to managerial. This comes post the massive $55 billion buyout from Saudi Arabia. However, there still seems to be some extent to which AI isn't to be used.

Opposing Steam's AI disclosures, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says game stores should drop "the AI tag" because "it makes no sense" when "AI will be involved in nearly all future production."