Main image of article Do Video Game Developers Use Generative A.I.?

Are developers and other tech professionals involved in video game creation using generative A.I. tools? And if so, how are they using them? If you’re interested in video games as a specialization, knowing how your potential colleagues use these tools can help you design an education and training path that leads to a job.

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) has issued the latest edition of the annual State of the Game Industry report (sign-up required), which queried more than 3,000 game developers about virtually every aspect of their business, from their preferred platforms for game creation to how they feel about virtual reality (VR). According to its data, a significant (but not overwhelming) percentage of those involved in game development use generative A.I. in some way. Here’s a breakdown by departments:

Overall, some 31 percent of respondents said they used generative A.I., while 15 percent said they didn’t, but were interested in the technology; another 23 percent said they had no interest. Around 18 percent said they didn’t use generative A.I., but that their colleagues did.

“I’d like to see A.I. tools that help with the current workflows and empower individual artists with their own work. What I don’t want to see is a conglomerate of artists being enveloped in an AI that just does 99 percent of the work a creative is supposed to do,” one anonymous respondent told the survey-takers.

Others had significant reservations about the technology. “In a rush to develop new tech, we are ignoring many of the red flags and potential pitfalls of this exciting and potentially dangerous new frontier,” another respondent offered. “Many of the developers behind A.I. seem blinded by the promise that A.I.s in Asimov, Greenburg, and even Roddenberry’s worlds offer, whilst blindly ignoring the warnings and issues those same creators shared in their works.”

As we’ve broken down before, those interested in learning more about the capabilities of generative A.I. have several online courses to choose from, including:

Google’s online tutorials and videos:

Meanwhile, online learning portals such as Coursera offer granular coursework into generative A.I., courtesy of institutions such as DeepLearning.AI, IBM, Vanderbilt University, and more. For those looking to formally certify their skills, Udacity is also offering a generative A.I. “nanodegree” program, with a focus on skills such as the OpenAI API, image pre-processing, and more; prerequisite skills include Python, neural networks, and more.

Whether or not you pursue a career in video games, there’s evidence that tech professionals who learn A.I. skills enjoy a salary boost. Late last year, a study by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Access Partnership found that employers “are willing to pay an average of 47 percent more for IT workers with A.I. skills.” Generative A.I. may help you speed your workflow—but you may also need to educate your managers on what the technology can (and can’t) do.