Hideo Kojima has issued a comment on the use of AI in response to criticism of his appearance in an AI-generated Prada video.
Late last month, the legendary developer of the Metal Gear and Death Stranding video game series appeared alongside Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn at a 90-second teaser for Prada Mode held at New York’s Chelsea Hotel last week. In the video, Kojima and Refn crash land on a planet, escape from alien clutches, and arrive at the Chelsea Hotel in a spaceship.
The teaser received considerable backlash from Kojima fans on social media, with some expressing confusion at his appearance, calling him an “AI slop.” “It’s heartbreaking to see such a great artist rely on the failures of generative AI,” said one person. “So sad to see @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN involved with these bullshit guys,” another said. “Hey @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN I’m a huge fan. I love everything you’ve ever done except for this. Don’t engage in AI slop again. You’re better than this,” another user commented.
Kojima has not yet addressed the backlash directly, but he spoke generally about AI in an article about Prada’s acquisition of the Chelsea Hotel in the Washington Post. The 62-year-old said he was “not interested” in AI and claimed he didn’t think he would see it create art in his lifetime.
“Art is life. But I don’t know what will happen 50 or 100 years from now. Maybe AI will create art, but I don’t think I’ll see it in my lifetime. I’m not interested,” he said. “We’re going to find better ways and better ways to use technology. It’s really up to young people to decide how to use it.”
Kojima also said that AI would work best as a “janitor doing creative chores,” and humans would need to remain in the room where the art is being created, the Washington Post reported. But his latest comments prompt an assessment of Kojima’s previously recorded thoughts on generative AI.
“I’m more interested in using AI for control systems than having it create visuals and things like that.” Kojima told CNN in December. last year. “With AI, enemy behavior can change based on the player’s experience, actions, and patterns. Such dynamic responses will enable deeper gameplay.”
Last year, Kojima also told Wired Japan that “the following future awaits us.” [he stays] Go one step further. Create together with AI. ” He even called AI a “friend” and suggested that it could be used to improve efficiency.
In October, Kojima warned against the industry’s obsession with remakes and expansions of existing series, telling Rolling Stone that it was creatively “dangerous” not to explore new things. “In the future, remakes and sequels will be made by AI,” he suggested.
After all, Kojima does seem to be interested in AI, but only for specific use cases. However, he doesn’t seem particularly interested in using AI to create art. It will be interesting to see if and how Kojima uses generative AI in the development of his upcoming Xbox game, OD, and his upcoming PlayStation game, Physint.
Wesley is IGN’s Director of News. Find me on Twitter @wyp100. Wesley can be reached at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
