Dan Houser, best known for his work writing video games like the Red Dead and Grand Theft Auto series, is creating a video game based on his recently released novel about an AI gone wrong.
Last year, he wrote an audio drama about a game studio that created an AI agent that is “riddled with self-loathing,” and has just released a novelization of that podcast series.
A Better Paradise – Volume One: An Aftermath is just the beginning of a new series for Houser. Speaking on Sunday Brunch, the Rockstar co-founder doesn’t just discuss his new book, but the game he’s been making in the same setting. “We are making a game set in the same world, but not exactly the same story,” Houser says. “We’ve begun work on that about 18 months ago, and that’ll be another few years in development.”
Despite his book asking the question, “What happens if this [AI revolution] goes wrong?” Houser hasn’t shied away from “dabbling” with AI in his next game’s development. However, he is skeptical of how the technology is being marketed, suggesting that some outlandish claims made in its advertising are “just to sell AI stock.”
“We are dabbling in using AI,” Houser says. “But the truth is a lot of it is not as useful as some of the companies would have you believe yet. It’s not gonna solve all of the problems.” He goes on to explain that the tech will need a lot more investment to develop the “last 20%.”
“[People] will claim it can solve every single problem,” Houser says. “It really can’t yet. […] But if we all give it all of our money, it might do in the future.” He also thinks that what AI can currently do is being oversold, as there are already technologies that can achieve the same results.
“A lot of those processes, computers already are doing,” Houser explains. “So some of [AI’s marketing] is just to sell AI stock, or to convince everyone this is transformative, [but] other stuff it does is amazing.”