In a recent interview, David Gaider, one of the key creative minds behind the “Dragon Age” series, also commented on the increasing use of AI in game development. The industry veteran took an unambiguous stand and sharply criticized the current AI tools, which he used to ruthlessly criticize them.
The past few months have made it clear that more and more studios are working on their games rely on generative AI or other AI tools.
A development that not only the players are increasingly critical of. In an interview with GamesRadar David Gaider, who primarily acts as the narrative lead, also commented „Dragon Age“series made a name for itself on the use of generative AI in the creation of games and found clear words.
Gaider described AI tools in development as a “real plague” that causes problems in different ways. In particular, the fact that generative AI is trained with external data could lead to publishers and studios suddenly finding themselves faced with unexpected litigation.
After all, it is often unclear where the data used by the AI comes from, as Gaider explains. “‘If we’re not allowed to steal everything we need, then the AI won’t work as well!’ “It’s just not a very convincing argument,” the industry veteran continued.
Risks from AI in development
Gaider warned against using generative AI even for early designs or iteration phases because the risk of unwanted results is too high. In his argument, he refers to cases in which AI placeholders accidentally found their way into the final game version.
According to Gaider, a single moment of inattention or a team change is enough to leave such temporary assets in the game unnoticed.
“Honestly, what does it help with? Does it make work more efficient? Does it improve work? It wouldn’t be so bad if generative AI was seen more as an assistant that does the annoying work and leaves more important tasks for the worker. But more and more we seem to be seeing the opposite: the AI is put on the important work and the worker is there to clean up afterward,” he pointed out.
“In all my time as a narrative designer, I have never encountered a situation where editing an inferior product took less time than simply throwing it away and remaking it. Furthermore, this process has never resulted in anything better than mediocrity,” Gaider reflected on his time in the industry.
“And while there is potential for AI to do the tedious work, I also think we need to be very careful not to eliminate every task that is useful for training juniors. How are we going to train the next generation of developers if we eliminate every entry-level task?”
Criticism of the hype and lack of benefit
Gaider says he sees no practical potential in current AI tools and believes the hype is just a forced decision by managers, not a technological necessity. He therefore consistently rejects its use because AI fails at iteration, the crucial core of development.
Due to the lack of precise control options for consistent results, the tool proves to be completely useless for him, as the narrative lead behind “Dragon Age” explained.
According to Gaider, developers should avoid using generative AI, especially for complex tasks such as programming games, as troubleshooting such systems is almost impossible in practice.
Gaider also criticized the fact that when using the technology, important learning processes in the team are lost because no one understands how a product is created from scratch.
He finds the concepts created to be flawed and soulless because they are unusable as a basis for artists. According to Gaider, the industry should therefore ask itself to what extent it makes sense to integrate AI systems into development whose functionality no one in the team can understand.
His conclusion is a strong appeal to the industry not to abuse technology as a cheap replacement for human labor and to finally end the pressure on teams to use AI in game development.
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