Generative artificial intelligence remains one of the most divisive tools in game development. But Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol creator Glen Schofield thinks studios should stop hesitating and start learning AI. In a recent interview with VideoGamesChronicle, the veteran game director urged developers to train their teams in AI tech now. He argued this could be the ‘right investment’ to cut development costs in the long run.
“We know this new wave is coming. And people will say ‘well, the software isn’t ready yet’. If you’re telling me about it, it’s ready,” he said. “I mean, ready to play with at least. You play with it. You learn it. You grow with it. Right?”
“So please, companies, if everybody would just train their people… it’s not a huge investment, it’s the right investment. Training. Now people are starting to get excited, ‘I’m going to be learning it.’ Now you can really talk about, hey, maybe this will save money in the long run,” added Schofield.
The Modern Warfare 3 (2011) co-director also has a response about growing concerns over AI models scraping copyrighted material. Instead of being afraid of the legal consequences, he encouraged developers to set their own boundaries — or simply let the legal system catch up.
“Then make your own rules on how you want to deal with it. So, if I… I don’t do this too much. I do a lot of prompts. But if I’m going to mash pictures together to try and make something, I’m going to use my paintings and drawings,” Schofield explained.
“The other thing is, use it. Let the lawyers figure it out. It’s going to be figured out someday. Because the work that I will show you, thousands and thousands and thousands of files, you will not find that online anymore. You’re not going to find where I borrow other people’s work, where I borrow pictures of tentacles or whatever.”
Schofield also dismissed accusations that generative AI encourages artistic theft, saying it is equivalent to standard art production techniques.
“I was hearing ‘hey, people are ripping off other people’ and everything. And I’m like, you know, Picasso said ‘good artists always borrow, great artists steal’,” argued Schofield. “Every artist, every concept artist, is already doing photobashing. They’ve been doing it for 5-10 years. That’s not your work, it’s not your photos, you’re photobashing somebody else.”
But despite his pro-AI stance, Schofield’s closing remarks in the interview reveal an interesting contradiction. When asked about his next project, Schofield admitted that true innovation still depends on human ideas, not just algorithms.
“Give me $75 million and I’ll make you something. Because you can save more money with a great creative idea than you can with AI.”
