The data also highlights that sentiment among game developers has turned against AI, with 21% believing it had a positive impact on making games in 2024, but just 13% feeling the same way now, technology news site Wired reports. — Photo by Venson Chou on Unsplash
A new survey from the Game Developers Conference (GDC) finds that nearly one in three developers working in the video game industry have negative feelings about AI (artificial intelligence). If that seems like a staggeringly high number for an industry quick to embrace the latest tech, consider this: Last year that same figure was just 18%. There’s more to the poll from the organization that runs the video “game industry’s premier professional event, championing game developers and the advancement of their craft,” especially about why game developers are worried about AI. Survey results show this is a reignition of the “will AI steal my job?” debate, and an indicator that similar upsets may play out in companies globally, even in non-tech industries.
The survey results show that just over half of developers said their company was already deploying AI tools, which proves how quickly this technology has spread through the gaming industry. The data also highlights that sentiment among game developers has turned against AI, with 21% believing it had a positive impact on making games in 2024, but just 13% feeling the same way now, technology news site Wired reports.
Wired points to one piece of data that may explain the swing in sentiment: One in 10 developers have lost their jobs in the past year, and though these losses are not necessarily AI-related, the fact that generative AI tools can code, and create text, audio, music, video and other creative assets automatically, must feel like a threat to those practising traditional video game industry skills.
The GDC survey also highlighted that developers link AI to intellectual property theft issues, increased energy consumption worries, poor quality AI-generated material, and potential biases in AI models and regulatory issues, news site VentureBeat notes. There’s also an interesting age bias in the use of AI that may run against the flow in how people are adopting AI in general: 47% of developers aged over 55 reported they use AI tools compared with just 28% of people aged between 18 and 34.
This contrasts sharply with data from a recent report from the payroll provider Gusto, which shows AI use is skewed toward younger age groups when it comes to business owners: Among Gen-Z and Millennial business owners in the survey, 65 and 69%, respectively, use AI technology in their business, while only 44% of Baby Boomers and 48% of Gen-Xers do. A November Google survey of younger knowledge workers also found 93% of Gen-Zers regularly use AI tools.
The disparities in these different surveys may, in some way, reflect the availability levels of AI tools for different tasks, and how well the current state-of-the-art AI systems perform different functions. Younger office workers in the Google survey, for example, cited AI’s use in helping them draft emails. It’s easy to imagine highly skilled creative workers in the video gaming industry being more sceptical.
Nevertheless, it’s worth remembering that the video game industry, en masse, is a giant force to be reckoned with: A new industry estimate predicts the US market alone will be worth US$193bil (RM844bil) by 2033, soaring up from 2024’s US$62bil (RM271bil) figure. The US film industry, for context, was generating revenue of nearly US$93bil (RM406bil) in 2022, data shows.
So if AI is penetrating into workplaces through the gaming world as deeply as the new GDC data shows, it could be a model for other less technical industries, or market sectors populated by many smaller businesses, which may catch up over the coming years – including in terms of employee discomfort with using AI, or worries about layoffs.
