Not a day goes by without us having news (and controversy) related to generative AI: from its alleged use in Fortnite, to its abuse in titles such as Let It Die: Inferno or the latest Call of Duty.
At the same time, AI supporters and detractors are throwing their weight against each other; a heated debate that now features the contribution of Dan Houser.
Rockstar Co-Founder has a very clear position on the use of AI and the future that awaits us; and he illustrates this with a very real disease: mad cow disease.
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Dan Houser thinks AI is like mad cow disease
During his visit to Virgin Radio UK, Houser did not avoid talking about the topic of the moment: AI and the “golden future” proposed by its promoters; something the creative doesn’t agree with.
“I think AI will eventually eat itself”he states. “As far as I know, AI models crawl the Internet for information; but the Internet is filling up with data generated by these models”.
“It’s something like when we feed cows with leftover beef.and gave rise to mad cow disease.”. An apt comparison, but what is Houser referring to?
In the 90s there was an epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathya lethal disease, transmitted by food contaminated with animal remains. Furthermore, consuming said meat could produce a human variant of the disease.
It was a disaster that mainly affected the United Kingdom: the export of meat from the country was banned and more than 4 million cattle were slaughtered. Even in Spain drastic measures were taken.
Although Houser’s analogy is catastrophic, the Red Dead Redemption 2 screenwriter believes that AI will be very useful “in some tasks, but not so much in others”.
He is more negative towards executives who are imposing the use of AI: “a certain group of characters are pushing humanity in a forced direction”he assures.
“These are people who want to define the future of creativity and humanity with AI. They themselves are not very creative nor very human.”.
Although he is no longer part of Rockstar, Houser’s opinion still carries great weight; especially when The Generative AI Debate Is Dominating Everything.
These are statements that add to those he made about the future of his former company, the origin of GTA 4 or the reason for the Agent’s cancellation. It would be good to ask the same question a year from now.Don’t you think?