Nintendo seemingly won’t be using generative AI in first-party titles any time soon, so we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief.
During the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa was asked about whether the company would seek to use AI in game development going forward. Given just about every industry, including game development, has thrown their hat in the AI-generated ring, Furukawa’s answer was surprising – Nintendo will continue to create games that “cannot be achieved through technology alone.” He also noted that generative AI had been a “hot topic,” and while it could be “more creative,” Nintendo recognised that it came with a range of intellectual property issues, something the company seems keen to steer clear of.
Here’s the full rundown of what Furukawa said regarding Nintendo’s use of generative AI (translated via Nintendo Life):
“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. Generative AI, which has been a hot topic in recent years, can be more creative, but we also recognize 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.”
While Furukawa didn’t in as many words say Nintendo wouldn’t be using generative AI in its games going forward, his answer seems to indicate that the gaming giant is pretty happy working with what they’ve got for now. AI has definitely been doing the rounds in the game industry – we’ve seen Ubisoft’s neo-NPC project (with varying results, including a female NPC that was too horny to the point of requiring reprogramming), PlayStation execs touting AI as the next frontier to create personalised experiences for the next generation, and Microsoft’s Inworld AI partnership in recent years.
For now at least, Nintendo likely won’t be dipping their toe into the waters of AI when it comes to their own titles. With the Switch 2 on the horizon, we might be saved from first-party AI slop when the new handheld eventually releases – even if precedent suggests we’ll unfortunately still be subjected to AI churn from some third-party developers on the eShop.
Image: Nintendo / Kotaku Australia
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