So-called generative AI, which can already be used to create texts (Chat-GPT), photos, illustrations, and speeches or singing with imitated real voices, is a trend in the tech sector. In the gaming sector, too, the potential of these tools in the development process is often discussed, or there are initial test balloons for features that will be made possible by them – for example, NPCs that are supposed to react dynamically to what the players say into a microphone.
During a question and answer session with investors, Nintendo boss Shuntaro Furukawa now asked what Nintendo's strategy is with regard to generative AI. The questioner put this in the context that generative AI is also increasingly finding its way into smartphones and that the presence of the technology in everyday life is expected to increase. Furukawa gave a considered answer:
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Generative AI has been a hot topic in recent years. Although it now has potential applications in creative areas, we are also aware that there are issues in the area of copyright.
We have decades of experience in creating optimal gaming experiences for our customers. Even though we are flexible in responding to technological developments, we will hopefully continue to offer something of value that makes us unique and cannot be achieved through technology alone.
The problems with copyright mentioned are reflected in an ongoing lawsuit by the New York Times and seven other US newspapers against Chat-GPT developers Open AI and Microsoft. The AI models have to be “trained” with ever-increasing amounts of data sets so that they can produce ever-improving results. Publicly accessible data from the Internet is therefore used for this purpose. The argument of the companies behind programs such as Chat-GPT is that the data sets themselves are not stored in the system and therefore do not violate any copyrights. The newspapers suing want to be able to prove that requests to Chat GPT and Microsoft Copolit can lead to literal paragraphs from their texts being output, thereby violating the rights of the authors.