Artificial intelligence is here to stay, but at what cost? This is a question that many creatives have been grappling with, and it led to historic strikes in 2023. Even video game companies, controversially, have started utilizing artificial intelligence for art.
Despite the ongoing debates about artificial intelligence, Square Enix’s President Takashi Kiryu made it clear in a New Year’s address that the company will be “aggressive in applying AI.” Takashi, in the letter, detailed the advancements of generative AI in entertainment and how there is potential for AI to “fundamentally change” creative processes.
There’s no debate to be had about the speed at which AI produces its work. ChatGPT can spit words out faster than any veteran writer. Several digital artists have been reduced to art styles at Midjourney in order to create prints that would’ve taken painstaking hours to make. Copy.ai can cut the time for translations and localizations. But this isn’t without legal and ethical issues, combined with its undeniable human costs. Art can definitely be rushed with AI, but that doesn’t mean it should be.
The gem that is Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin wouldn’t be the same without its memes and its obnoxious main character, who hates that he’s in a fantasy game. Nier: Automata made too many gamers cry over androids who’ve grown to have emotions. Maybe everybody could have a laugh if Square Enix’s true goal is to create real-life androids just like in Nier Automata, but that must also mean that the world is already treading into dystopia.
In this push to integrate artificial intelligence, it’s unclear what uses Kiryu ultimately envisions, so it’s difficult to know what issues may come up, but with the promise of “aggressive” efforts, it’s easy to imagine that it won’t just be the more benign uses of the technology. The effects on the employees and overall workforce of Square Enix are also yet to be known.
That aggressiveness in the adoption of AI basically everywhere is really the root of the problem. The technology is spreading and evolving much faster than anyone can ensure it is being appropriately regulated. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government has taken an interest in regulating AI, but there are currently no labor laws in place to protect employees from retrenchment due to AI.
(featured image: Square Enix)
