The Last of Us star Troy Baker says "we don't need to demonize" gen AI because it's just going to drive people to "authentic" experiences "as opposed to the gruel that gets distilled to me through a black mirror"

The Last of Us and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle star Troy Baker is not worried about generative AI cranking out "content" because, if anything, he expects that content will just make actual art shine even brighter.

Asked by The Game Business about the potential impact of AI and gen AI on video games and the performers behind them, Baker argues AI "can create content, but it cannot create art. And the reason why is because that invariably requires the human experience." And for that reason, he doesn't see much point in panicking about AI replacing art.

"People go, 'Look what AI can do.' It's like, 'Yeah, okay. I see what it's capable of doing. It doesn't matter,'" he says. "And we don't need to diminish it, we don't need to denigrate it, we don't need to demonize it. We need to just go, 'Okay, it's there.' But it still doesn't remove the choice for me as a performer, as a producer, to go, 'But I choose to do this.'"

The fear, Baker adds, is likely more rooted in the saturation of content. "There is no doubt that AI can make content way better than humans, by far. It can crank it out no problem," he adds.

With the rise and growth of AI, Baker expects that content saturation to "drive people to the authentic" – to "artful stories," made with intent and care. "'I want to have this first-hand experience as opposed to the gruel that gets distilled to me through a black mirror.' And I think that it's a good thing. It's a revolution, absolutely," he concludes.

Baker is one of the most prolific and acclaimed actors in games, and his outlook on gen AI is an optimistic one amid a sea of extremes – total rejection on one side, frothing endorsement on the other.

Broadly, artists and creators getting their hands dirty seem more – or certainly outspokenly more – cautious or negative toward the technology, while executives with their hands mostly in spreadsheets and fiscal reports are frequently fiercer advocates. There are middle grounds and exceptions, of course, but the topic of AI is only getting hotter as the tech has meaningful impacts on current and future games as well as the people who make them. One constant is backlash from players, many of whom treat the reveal of gen AI in their favorite games as one might treat the reveal of a live wasp in their sandwich.

Pertinently, The Last of Us co-director Bruce Straley, now head of a new studio making Coven of the Chicken Foot, said in December that he won't be using gen AI even if its output becomes convincing and "compelling" precisely because "I don't think prompting is art."

"I don't know who's asking for it, I don't know who's pushing for it, but I don't think it's the way as a human species we need to be evolving," Straley said.

For the creators of Baby Steps, one of 2025's best and weirdest games, there's no room or reason to surrender creativity to AI: "The player is in communion with a human designer."