Hideo Kojima’s AI Strategy: Offload the Busywork, Supercharge Human Creativity

Hideo Kojima just did the rarest thing in 2025: he talked about AI without promising to replace everyone. In a new Wired chat, he called AI a 'friend' that can take on the grunt work while he keeps a tight grip on the creative wheel. The gist is simple: let the machines lift heavy, let humans decide where the thing is actually going.

What Kojima actually means by 'AI' here

• He is not talking about full automation. He wants AI output as a reference to speed things up, not as the final creative voice.
• It is bigger than just generative AI. He is also talking about tools that affect animation, motion capture, and even NPC behavior. Used well, those tough, time-sucking jobs get easier.
• The end goal: keep human creativity in charge, use AI to lower cost and shave time off the schedule.

He even framed it as a collaboration, not a takeover. That puts him at odds with the fear that AI kills artistry, and it also separates him from the push for pure automation we have seen elsewhere.

'I would like AI to handle the tedious tasks. That would lower the cost and cut down on time. It is more like co-creating with AI instead of just using it. I see a future where I stay one step ahead; creating together with AI.'

Where this lands in the current AI backlash

EA and Rockstar have taken heat for leaning into AI in their pipelines. Kojima is pitching a different tone: keep the people steering, let AI help move the boxes. He also is not speaking hypothetically. Kojima Productions used machine learning to scan people for Death Stranding 2, which you can see on screen. It is very much the practical, shop-talk side of the conversation, not just buzzwords.

The twist: he has been frustrated with AI too

Back in September 2025 at the New Global Sport Conference in Riyadh, he said (via Rolling Stone) that their machine-learning scanning rig took a ton of time and still did not hit the realism he wanted. He called the result 'okay' and made it clear he wants the next project to push realism further. Basically: the tech saved time in theory but not enough in practice, at least not yet, and the output still did not clear his bar. You might think Death Stranding 2 looks great — and it does — but from Kojima, 'okay' is basically an itch he needs to scratch.

The read

Kojima is not waving a flag for AI to run the show. He is arguing for a human-led pipeline where AI handles tedious, expensive work and humans make the creative calls. Some folks will still bristle at any AI in the room, but his angle is pragmatic: co-create, move faster, spend less, and keep the human weirdness intact. If he can get the realism he wants without eating calendar months, that approach could actually work.