AI and the Gaming Industry

I’m circling back to see what is going on in the AI arena. I’m getting a very faint sense that people are being replaced by AI.

While AI grinds its way through the industries, the latest industry to be hit is the gaming industry, which I’m not familiar with at all. A few articles have come out detailing the use of AI and the layoffs in the industry. A typical article is the one by Wired.

What are the reasons for the layoffs?

Well, some has to do with the hiring frenzy that took place a few years ago during the pandemic and now the companies have to right-size their headcounts. There has also been some consolidation which typically leads to headcount reductions.

Then there is the usual cost reduction effect by outsourcing the work to other countries where salaries are lower.

“I do think AI is a problem,” Cross says, “but it’s emblematic of a much larger issue.” Art is undervalued in games, they say, and as with so many other jobs, it’s a race to the bottom to drive down wages by any means necessary—often by outsourcing work to other countries.

Brian Merchant, Wired, “AI Is Already Taking Jobs in the Video Game Industry”, 7/23/2024

One interesting thing the article pointed out is that the path to using AI to replace people happens over time. The job loss doesn’t happen all at once; it happens through a series of small actions – a drip drip of sorts – that accumulates over a period of time. There might come a point in time where enough managers have implemented AI to eat away at job tasks that there is a tipping point where they just suddenly decide to replace workers because their competitors have begun to do so. Or a recession hits and induces managers to turn to AI as a cost saving solution.

Here’s how the Wired article puts it:

Job automation rarely happens evenly or cleanly. Historically, much of its impact is felt through deskilling, as more tasks are handed over to a machine or program, or attrition, as employees who are laid off, quit, or retire, don’t get replaced or hired back. Generative AI, by all indications, is no different.

Managers at video game companies aren’t necessarily using AI to eliminate entire departments, but many are using it to cut corners, ramp up productivity, and compensate for attrition after layoffs. In other words, bosses are already using AI to replace and degrade jobs. The process just doesn’t always look like what you might imagine.

Brian Merchant, Wired, “AI Is Already Taking Jobs in the Video Game Industry”, 7/23/2024

A stunning statistic that Wired noted is that illustrator job losses are quite severe.

…the number of illustrator jobs in his country had fallen by 70 percent, due in part to the widespread availability of generative AI tools.

Brian Merchant, Wired, “AI Is Already Taking Jobs in the Video Game Industry”, 7/23/2024

That is a scary statistic.