Legendary Mario creator on AI: Nintendo is “going the opposite direction”

Artist's conception of Miyamoto preparing to fend off investors eager for more generative AI integration. (credit: Pop Culture Geek)

In the last few years, large swaths of the game industry have embraced generative AI, both on the development side and for new user-generated content tools. But legendary Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto says his company "would rather go in a different direction" when it comes to AI technology.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Miyamoto said this wasn't just contrarianism on Nintendo's part. “It might seem like we are just going the opposite direction for the sake of going in the opposite direction, but it really is trying to find what makes Nintendo special,” Miyamoto said. “There is a lot of talk about AI, for example. When that happens, everyone starts to go in the same direction, but that is where Nintendo would rather go in a different direction.”

Miyamoto's statement comes a few months after a more noncommittal position Nintendo President Shintaro Furukawa took in a July investor Q&A. "Generative AI, which is becoming a big topic recently, can be used in creative ways, but we recognize that it may also raise issues with intellectual property rights," Furukawa said at the time.