GenAI and Creatives: Building the Future We Want
Before I worked in games, I studied theater and English in undergrad, went on to get an MFA in acting, and worked in themed entertainment and tv. With the recent WGA strikes and the (as of this writing) ongoing SAG/AFTRA strikes, my heart has been with the many friends and past colleagues on the picket lines. I’m proud of the wins the WGA achieved, and happy to see them secure the AI protections that they sought from the beginning.
Conversations around generative AI, especially among creatives, can be difficult. And understandably so—especially when certain large corporations and groups of tech enthusiasts seem most excited at the prospect of leveraging it to replace human artists and writers.
It’s especially frustrating to see so much oxygen in the room getting consumed by folks who pit AI innovations against creative folks, when there is so much potential for it to unlock new kinds of storytelling and creative expression.
For us at Jam & Tea Studios, here are some fundamental truths to how we’re thinking about AI and our creative work:
The need for human creatives will grow, not shrink.
As AI gets better and better at producing content, the need and hunger for human ingenuity, creativity, and specificity will only increase. Writing naturalistic copy or creating a believable stock photo is very different from composing an experience across mediums that resonates yet surprises, that feels fresh and new, yet inviting and familiar.
As a studio, we invest in our creative team because we know our collective creative voice will always be our key differentiator and competitive edge.
We’re focused on making brand new kinds of games.
As Aaron, our CTO, explains in more detail, we’re less worried about the tools and efficiencies that AI can bring, and more focused on the new kinds of games that AI now lets us make. Tools that increase our efficiency will happen; our engineers are already using AI copilots in their day to day work. But what captured our imagination and excitement is a vision of a new kind of experience: games that we’ve only dreamed of making, that were technically infeasible or wildly out of scope in the past, that are now within reach.
An optimistic future.
On a personal note: I, like my cofounders, believe in an optimistic future. We also believe that it will take a lot of work to make that future come to pass. That was a big part of our desire to form a company that pursued this work: we’re excited by the opportunity to try to shape (or at least nudge) the future in a direction we all believe in. Rather than seeing AI as an instrument to extract value, we want to use it as a tool to make players happier and people’s lives better. And we can’t wait to meet more creatives who are eager to do the same.
If you’re also excited to help build something brand new, and help shape a bright future for collaborative, unforgettable stories you share with friends, drop us a line.
-Yichao
