{"id":53094,"date":"2025-10-18T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=53094"},"modified":"2025-10-17T15:34:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T06:34:49","slug":"final-fantasy-composer-nobuo-uematsu-says-hes-never-used-generative-ai-and-never-will-hardship-is-what-makes-the-creative-process-rewarding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/final-fantasy-composer-nobuo-uematsu-says-hes-never-used-generative-ai-and-never-will-hardship-is-what-makes-the-creative-process-rewarding\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu says he’s \u201cnever used generative AI, and never will.\u201d Hardship is what makes the creative process rewarding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a recent interview, Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu talked to JASRAC Magazine<\/a> about his time in the industry, the evolution of game music, and its prospects for the future. He also gave his opinion on the topic of generative AI in music, stating that he \u201chas never used the technology, and probably never will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back at the history of game music, most of which he has lived through himself, Uematsu pointed out some of the key events that helped shape the genre as we know it today. He mentions initially making music from only a melody line, chord line and bass line during the NES era \u2013 but as technology progressed, musicians became able to add samples, layer multiple sounds and create richer quality of tones. However, Uematsu suggests that, despite games themselves evolving significantly in recent years, especially when it comes to graphics, game music has already reached its peak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s been a surge of graphical advancements in games in recent years. But in terms of game music, I feel like it already reached its \u2018final form\u2019 when musicians became able to use their studio recordings in games. Another advancement was binaural audio, and we\u2019ve already made it a reality in Final Fantasy X. However, it is a question of how much players are going to demand it in the future,\u201d he explains. As far as other future advancements could go, Uematsu suggests that musicians may focus on how smoothly they can switch between certain sounds. \u201cPerhaps AI will be able to handle something like that well in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uematsu shed light on his own stance on generative AI in music, given that songs can now be \u201cgenerated\u201d with just a few prompts and a click. \u201cI\u2019ve never used AI and probably never will. I think it still feels more rewarding to go through the hardships of creating something myself. When you listen to music, the fun is also in discovering the background of the person who created it, right? AI does not have that kind of background though. Even when it comes to live performances, music produced by people is unstable, and everyone does it in their own unique way. And what makes it sound so satisfying are precisely those fluctuations and imperfections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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