Ken Kutaragi, known as the father of the PlayStation, participated in the opening ceremony of CEREC – a new academic research and education hub centered on games – at Japan’s University of Electro-Communications on September 29. Talking to 4Gamer in a follow-up interview, Kutaragi touched on the topic of generative AI, and how he thinks the rapidly evolving technology is going to change the game industry.
While Kutaragi considers the PlayStation to have been a “technological driver” in its early days, he says that after his retirement, the console has become much closer to a PC due to an influx of talent from the PC industry. And while this shift did have both its pros and cons, Kutaragi says it ultimately didn’t lead to further technological evolution.
As for what the market’s next step towards innovation could potentially be, Kutaragi suggests that the game industry should integrate the recent technological advances of AI.
He cites the examples of both NVIDIA and AMD, who worked together with Sony on the PlayStation, moving into the AI sector. “AI involves far more advanced technology, but the current game industry hasn’t really tapped into that,” he says.
“Despite all the time and resources poured into games nowadays, the only changes seem to be things like slightly better shaders, or NPCs that can speak a bit more. But compared to AI, it feels like there is no actual progress being made.”
Kutaragi argues that, through AI, games will be able to transform into entertainment that could “change human sensibilities.” He anticipates that this could lead the current global game market, which stands at over 30 trillion yen, to grow to around 3,000 trillion yen.
“It’s predicted that real-time AI technology will be capable of generating content at the same speed as today’s consoles sometime around 2028 to 2029. Whan that happens, all content will change. Communication and delusions will become content. Fantasizing itself will become a type of content,” Kutaragi comments.
In a separate report by GameWatch, Kutaragi said that while current AI is considered “amazing” by many people, it is still in the stage of something akin to a “newborn baby.” While its responses are instant, all of them are ultimately based on information accumulated in the past.
This is why Kutaragi believes that it will be “us humans and the AI” to shape the future. He argues that simply using AI to expand existing frameworks is insufficient, and that, going forward, it will be crucial to have people that are able to grow alongside AI and create something new from that foundation. The people who have the skills to expand the possibilities of AI will be in high demand in the future, Kutaragi suggests.
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