Former Rockstar Games artist David O’Reilly, who worked on Red Dead Redemption 2 and some of GTA 6, has responded to the claims that GTA 7 could be made with AI by arguing that the technology “can’t replace people”.
As we’re all very aware of, AI has started to emerge as a pretty common tool in the gaming industry.While there’s still a lot of (earned) backlash whenever it’s spotted or not disclosed, it looks like more and more developers are going to be utilising it when making games,which could even apply to some of the biggest studios out there.
As AI becomes more and more prevalent, it leaves us all wondering which big developers are going to end up utilising it. A former Rockstar developer, Obbe Vermeij, recently mused thatGTA 7 will be much cheaper to make than GTA 6 since he thinks Rockstar will end up using AIto help with development.
Rockstar developers seem split on whether the studio will ever use AI
At least it seems likely they’ll never replace real developers with it
Although that was just a prediction from Vermeij and not a statement, it did rub some GTA fans the wrong way, considering how much time and care Rockstar takes with its games. It’s a viewpoint that formerRockstar environmental artist David O’Reilly has responded to in an interview with Kiwi Talkz(thanks VideoGamer).
While chatting with Kiwi Talkz,O’Reilly noted that he doesn’t think AI can “replace people”, although he does agree that it has “its uses”. Rather than thinking that AI will outright take the place of some real developers like Vermeij, O’Reilly thinks that the technology will be used to automate the more tedious tasks.
I don’t think we’re anywhere near letting AI make good terrain. It might make you a broad first pass of something, but it’s not going to get you down to player-level quality without so much handholding that you might as well do it yourself. - David O’Reilly
In the end, O’Reilly thinks that AI can be used for very minor things and to help aid development, but not without a lot of handholding, which makes it a bit pointless. Here’s hoping that Rockstar sees the same value in real developers, especially considering how much it’s made a name for itself with lovingly crafted games.
If the name David O’Reilly rings a bell,it’s because he previously suggested that GTA 6 started development in 2018, something that he repeats in this interview.
