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Gaming industry titan Nintendo has announced that it has no plans to implement generative AI into its game development process, setting itself apart from other companies.
While its rivals in Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox have already revealed their intentions to use generative AI to speed up and enhance the development process, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said that the company is concerned with the risk of violating intellectual property rights.
“In the game industry, AI-like technology has long been used to control enemy character movements, so game development and AI technology have always been closely related,” he said in a Q&A with investors.
“Generative AI, which has been a hot topic in recent years, can be more creative, but we also recognise that it has issues with intellectual property rights.
“We have decades of know-how in creating optimal gaming experiences for our customers, and while we remain flexible in responding to technological developments, we hope to continue to deliver value that is unique to us and cannot be achieved through technology alone.”
Nintendo’s rivals don’t share these concerns, having already shared big plans for the technology.
Microsoft has previously said that in partnership with AI developer Inworld, it intends to create an AI design copilot system that would allow Xbox users to “explore more creative ideas, turning prompts into detailed scripts, dialogue trees, quests and more”.
The system would provide creators with a toolset of AI technology to assist them with quest, story and dialogue design. In addition, Microsoft and Inworld plan to create a character runtime engine, which is integrated into the game client and can be used for the generation of stories, quests and dialogue.
Sony has also said it plans to use generative AI for streaming, while Activision is already using the technology to moderate in-game chat.
However, a number of developers are hesitant to use the technology, citing concerns that generative AI tools could replace human artists such as voice actors, graphics and 3D artists, and more.