Hideo Kojima Welcomes AI as a Friend—Only to Tackle Tedious Tasks, Cut Costs, and Speed Up Development
The mind behind Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding is poised to lead the creative push, harnessing AI to turbocharge efficiency.
If hearing the word AI makes you picture low-effort junk flooding your feed, same. Hideo Kojima just weighed in on how he actually wants to use it in game development, and it is refreshingly practical: he sees AI as a helper, not the artist.
AI in Kojima land: teammate, not auteur
Kojima spoke to Wired about where AI fits in his process. He is not handing the creative wheel to a model; he is treating it like a smart assistant that can shave time off the busywork while he and his team make the art.
"A lot of people use AI in creative work to come up with ideas, but I think of AI as more of a friend... I would lead the creative part and use AI to boost efficiency."
"I'd like AI to handle the tedious tasks that would lower cost and cut down on time. It's more like co-creating with AI instead of just using it."
If you have been watching social platforms drown in cloned voices, deepfake-y videos, and those meme clips where a cartoon character belts a pop hit, you know why this matters. Games have caught the same wave: there is a flood of quick-and-dirty releases, often cribbing from bigger titles, clogging up Steam, PlayStation Store, and Nintendo eShop. Kojima is intent on steering clear of that route.
- What he is keeping human: the core creative decisions, ideas, performances, art, and the overall vision
- What he wants AI to do: speed up the grindy parts, cut costs where it makes sense, and help his team move faster without becoming the writer, actor, or artist
Translation: do not expect a Kojima game stuffed with AI-generated voice acting or key art. Do expect his projects to maybe hit the finish line a bit sooner because the boring parts are less of a slog.
One more Kojima nugget
He also credited a very specific spark for two of his biggest works. According to Kojima, Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding would not exist without the Osaka World's Fair he attended 55 years ago. That trip clearly stuck with him, and it is still echoing through his work decades later.