{"id":1999646,"date":"2026-06-19T14:30:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1999646"},"modified":"2026-06-19T14:30:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:30:28","slug":"take-twos-ex-ai-boss-says-the-generative-ai-hype-is-poisoning-the-well-and-could-ward-off-all-use-of-traditional-ai-in-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1999646","title":{"rendered":"Take-Two&#8217;s ex-AI boss says the generative AI hype is &#8220;poisoning the well&#8221; and could ward off all use of traditional AI in the future"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/grand-theft-auto-vi\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Grand Theft Auto VI<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Take-Two&#8217;s ex-AI boss says the generative AI hype is &#8220;poisoning the well&#8221; and could ward off all use of traditional AI in the future<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">&#8220;We have already stumbled into the trough of disillusionment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/GTA-6&apos;s-Jason-aims-a-gun-with-a-bandana-scarf-covering-his-lower-face-and-yellow-rimmed-sunglasses-over-his-eyes.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"GTA 6&apos;s Jason aims a gun with a bandana scarf covering his lower face and yellow rimmed sunglasses over his eyes\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"GTA-6&apos;s-Jason-aims-a-gun-with-a-bandana-scarf-covering-his-lower-face-and-yellow-rimmed-sunglasses-over-his-eyes.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Rockstar<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sherif Saed avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/IMG_1950_Uy1XomJ.JPG?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1638\" height=\"1346\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Sherif Saed avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"IMG_1950_Uy1XomJ.JPG\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1638\" height=\"1346\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/sherif-saed\">Sherif Saed<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-06-19T14:30:28+00:00\">June 19, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/take-two-former-ai-head-generative-ai-hype-poisoning-the-well?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          9 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"7685df9e-22e2-4b0e-a893-03c1781df5f1\" data-name=\"Grand Theft Auto VI\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Grand Theft Auto VI\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Grand Theft Auto VI\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Grand Theft Auto VI\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Grand Theft Auto VI\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Grand Theft Auto VI\" title=\"Follow Grand Theft Auto VI\"><br \/>\n  Follow Grand Theft Auto VI<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>The usage of generative AI and LLMs is among the most controversial &#8211; and polarising &#8211; topics in game development today. Players and critics are becoming more alert to the use of such tools in games, scouring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/valve-amends-ai-disclosure-policy-but-still-stresses-players-need-to-be-informed-if-genai-is-used\">the Steam store pages of each newly-announced game<\/a> to see if the tech was used during development.<\/p>\n<p>Take-Two, the parent company of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/gta-6-everything-we-know-so-far-9357\">Grand Theft Auto 6<\/a> developer Rockstar, used to have a division dedicated to researching and exploring the ways AI, in its different forms, could help game development. That was true until April, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/take-two-lays-off-ai-team\">when the company reportedly laid off that entire AI team<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The move was surprising, considering how many companies are either <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/high-on-life-contains-ai-art-and-voice-acting\">quietly<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/unreal-engine-5-8-ai-llm-engine\">outwardly embracing the implementation of generative AI<\/a> in the development pipeline. But most of the people laid off weren&#8217;t actually working with generative AI.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lucia in GTA 6 aiming a weapon. She has her hair tied back and is wearing sunglasses and a mask to cover her face\" height=\"811\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Lucia-in-GTA-6-aiming-a-weapon.-She-has-her-hair-tied-back-and-is-wearing-sunglasses-and-a-mask-to-cover-her-face.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7780517879161528\" width=\"1442\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Lucia in GTA 6 aiming a weapon. She has her hair tied back and is wearing sunglasses and a mask to cover her face\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Lucia-in-GTA-6-aiming-a-weapon.-She-has-her-hair-tied-back-and-is-wearing-sunglasses-and-a-mask-to-cover-her-face.jpg\" height=\"811\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7780517879161528\" width=\"1442\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Rockstar<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The team, which started off at mobile developer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/zynga\">Zynga<\/a> before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/gta-publisher-take-two-to-buy-zynga-in-deal-worth-usd12-7bn\">Take-Two acquired it in 2022<\/a>, later had its responsibilities expanded to cover the whole of Take-Two. In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesindustry.biz\/my-worry-is-that-generative-ai-is-poisoning-the-well-take-twos-former-head-of-ai-shares-his-concerns-on-the-current-hype-cycle\">GamesIndustry.biz<\/a>, Dr Luke Dicken, the team&#8217;s former head, revealed that the skunkworks operation was founded in 2019, well before the 2022 public launch of ChatGPT and the subsequent rise in interest in generative AI.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Generative AI is not something that I have ever been particularly passionate about,&#8221; said Dicken. &#8220;It was something I think there&#8217;s a moral obligation to see managed as best as can be, but also on the understanding that for any big corporation in 2025\/2026, no generative AI is the wrong answer that will get a lot of people&#8217;s backs up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dicken rightly pointed out that it&#8217;s a polarising topic, but that &#8220;some of the excesses of genAI are so egregious that you need to make sure you&#8217;re able to push back.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"grand theft auto 6 screenshot showing two people in a car in stunning realism\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/GTA-6-SITE_Zs4Re2o.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"grand theft auto 6 screenshot showing two people in a car in stunning realism\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"GTA-6-SITE_Zs4Re2o.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Rockstar<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What he&#8217;s interested in seeing instead is a more holistic look at AI, not just generative AI. &#8220;Five years ago, you&#8217;d say you have an algorithm that will be really beneficial for accelerating level generation content in a mobile title,&#8221; he recalled.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Back then, people looked at us like we had two heads. Now, the hype of AI has created an environment where I could tell you that AI is going to be the thing that moves your game to quantum computing, and people will nod and say: &#8216;Yeah, we want AI in the game&#8217;,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>The upside is that &#8220;it has made people more receptive to conversations about what traditional techniques could have done for them years ago. They are more inclined to believe things like that can exist.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, because of how overblown the hype around generative AI currently is, most people may abandon the entire field of AI research if the bubble pops.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My worry is that generative AI is poisoning the well,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think there is enough sophistication and nuance to retain the traditional stuff. For LLMs, we have already stumbled into the trough of disillusionment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>The usage of generative AI and LLMs is among the most controversial &#8211; and polarising &#8211; topics in game development today. Players and critics are becoming more alert to the use of such tools in games, scouring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/valve-amends-ai-disclosure-policy-but-still-stresses-players-need-to-be-informed-if-genai-is-used\">the Steam store pages of each newly-announced game<\/a> to see if the tech was used during development.<\/p>\n<p>Take-Two, the parent company of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/gta-6-everything-we-know-so-far-9357\">Grand Theft Auto 6<\/a> developer Rockstar, used to have a division dedicated to researching and exploring the ways AI, in its different forms, could help game development. That was true until April, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/take-two-lays-off-ai-team\">when the company reportedly laid off that entire AI team<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The move was surprising, considering how many companies are either <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/high-on-life-contains-ai-art-and-voice-acting\">quietly<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/unreal-engine-5-8-ai-llm-engine\">outwardly embracing the implementation of generative AI<\/a> in the development pipeline. But most of the people laid off weren&#8217;t actually working with generative AI.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lucia in GTA 6 aiming a weapon. She has her hair tied back and is wearing sunglasses and a mask to cover her face\" height=\"811\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Lucia-in-GTA-6-aiming-a-weapon.-She-has-her-hair-tied-back-and-is-wearing-sunglasses-and-a-mask-to-cover-her-face.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7780517879161528\" width=\"1442\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Lucia in GTA 6 aiming a weapon. She has her hair tied back and is wearing sunglasses and a mask to cover her face\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Lucia-in-GTA-6-aiming-a-weapon.-She-has-her-hair-tied-back-and-is-wearing-sunglasses-and-a-mask-to-cover-her-face.jpg\" height=\"811\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7780517879161528\" width=\"1442\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Rockstar<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The team, which started off at mobile developer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/zynga\">Zynga<\/a> before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/gta-publisher-take-two-to-buy-zynga-in-deal-worth-usd12-7bn\">Take-Two acquired it in 2022<\/a>, later had its responsibilities expanded to cover the whole of Take-Two. In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesindustry.biz\/my-worry-is-that-generative-ai-is-poisoning-the-well-take-twos-former-head-of-ai-shares-his-concerns-on-the-current-hype-cycle\">GamesIndustry.biz<\/a>, Dr Luke Dicken, the team&#8217;s former head, revealed that the skunkworks operation was founded in 2019, well before the 2022 public launch of ChatGPT and the subsequent rise in interest in generative AI.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Generative AI is not something that I have ever been particularly passionate about,&#8221; said Dicken. &#8220;It was something I think there&#8217;s a moral obligation to see managed as best as can be, but also on the understanding that for any big corporation in 2025\/2026, no generative AI is the wrong answer that will get a lot of people&#8217;s backs up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dicken rightly pointed out that it&#8217;s a polarising topic, but that &#8220;some of the excesses of genAI are so egregious that you need to make sure you&#8217;re able to push back.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"grand theft auto 6 screenshot showing two people in a car in stunning realism\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/GTA-6-SITE_Zs4Re2o.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"grand theft auto 6 screenshot showing two people in a car in stunning realism\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"GTA-6-SITE_Zs4Re2o.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Rockstar<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What he&#8217;s interested in seeing instead is a more holistic look at AI, not just generative AI. &#8220;Five years ago, you&#8217;d say you have an algorithm that will be really beneficial for accelerating level generation content in a mobile title,&#8221; he recalled.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Back then, people looked at us like we had two heads. Now, the hype of AI has created an environment where I could tell you that AI is going to be the thing that moves your game to quantum computing, and people will nod and say: &#8216;Yeah, we want AI in the game&#8217;,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>The upside is that &#8220;it has made people more receptive to conversations about what traditional techniques could have done for them years ago. They are more inclined to believe things like that can exist.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, because of how overblown the hype around generative AI currently is, most people may abandon the entire field of AI research if the bubble pops.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My worry is that generative AI is poisoning the well,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think there is enough sophistication and nuance to retain the traditional stuff. For LLMs, we have already stumbled into the trough of disillusionment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Grand Theft Auto VI Take-Two&#8217;s ex-AI boss says the generative AI hype is &#8220;poisoning the well&#8221; and could ward off all use of traditional AI in the future &#8220;We have already stumbled into the trough of disillusionment.&#8221; Image credit: Rockstar News by Sherif Saed Contributor Published on June 19, 2026 9 comments Follow [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1999646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1999646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1999646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1999646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1999646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}