Nintendo isn't ruling out using AI in the development of its games going forward, but Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser is making it clear that "what makes our games special is our developers," and that "human touch" will never disappear.
Speaking in an interview with CNBC following last week's flurry of Nintendo Switch 2 news, Bowser is asked how Nintendo is thinking about potentially inserting AI into its games. He makes it clear that he's not trying to "speak on behalf of the developers," but notes that generally speaking, "as we look at technology, we always want to make sure the technology we may be leveraging, whether it's to develop our games or whether it's in our devices, is going to create a better gameplay experience." This, he says, is "a very important part of our decision-making process in how to use AI."
He acknowledges that AI is "being used broadly in a number of different ways" around the world like to "enhance productivity," before going on to say that the potential use of it by developers is something that is being discussed within the company. He makes it clear, however, that it wouldn't be integrated to outright replace the actual humans who bring the company's games to life.
"If developers choose to use AI, and it is a discussion right now at Nintendo, it's not the only method of developing games," Bowser explains. "We still believe that what makes our games special is our developers, their artistic capabilities, their insight into how people play, so there's always, always going to be a human touch, and a human engagement in how we develop and build our games."
Nintendo is always celebrated for its creativity and innovation, so hearing Bowser highlight the devs as the ones making the company's games "special" is reassuring. Generative AI continues to be controversial, to say the least, especially in artistic fields. The way it pulls from human artists' work, potentially without their consent, in order to produce imitations doesn't sit right with many for multiple reasons, including the worry that it serves as a threat to human creativity.
Again, it doesn't sound like Nintendo is dismissing the potential future usage of AI completely, but it's clear that it values the artistic talent and real experiences of its devs, so we'll have to hope that it continues to prioritize that going forward.
Last week, Nintendo finally showed off the Switch 2 properly – be sure to check out our roundup of upcoming Switch 2 games to see what's headed to the system.
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