Artificial intelligence is steadily making its way into the gaming industry—whether we like it or not. While some embrace it enthusiastically and others criticize it, very few remain indifferent. Bruce Straley, co-creator of The Last of Us and former creative director at Naughty Dog, recently shared a sharp critique of generative AI in games.
In an interview with Polygon, Straley stated that he does not consider these technologies art and doubts their value for true creativity. Currently, he leads an independent studio, Wildflower Interactive, which is preparing its debut game, Coven of the Chicken Foot.
According to Straley, generative AI is like a “snake eating its own tail”: neural networks cannot think or evolve—they only process existing material and imitate it. He emphasized that this approach does not create anything genuinely new and cannot replace human imagination.
Straley gave an example from Coven of the Chicken Foot. The game features a unique companion—a creature that observes the player, learns habits, and develops like a child.
“The beauty is that this creature is allowed to be a fool. If you feed it too many rotten apples, it will get a stomachache and make a mess in the forest. Players discover these moments during gameplay because we design the world and manually craft these experiences. We are not trying to recreate humans. If the goal is to replicate human intelligence…
Listen, it took hundreds of millions of years of evolution to develop this little eight-pound supercomputer in our skulls. What we are capable of is truly a miracle. Machines can only do a fraction of what the human brain can, even with computing power the size of a football field, and still, they fall short. I don’t know who wants this, who asks for it, or who promotes it, but I don’t think this is the direction humanity should take.”
The developer also noted that the current hype around neural networks complicates communication with the audience. For decades, “AI” in games referred to NPC behavior scripted by programmers. Now, any mention of artificial intelligence is often associated with neural networks and language models, even though Wildflower does not use them. Straley believes this distorts the understanding of the creative process. Creativity requires hard work, solving countless challenges, and a personal touch. That, he says, makes characters more charming.
“I love art with imperfections. It’s like pottery: flaws exist because the piece did not come out of the kiln perfect. That is the joy of creativity.”
Straley does not deny that generative AI can be useful in some contexts and that the technology may improve over time. His criticism is philosophical: he does not see value in art that is not created by humans.
He explained that AI can work in limited scenarios—for example, if a writing team creates the world lore, a neural network could generate dialogue based on it. But personally, Straley finds this uninteresting. Without human involvement, a work loses its meaning for him: he does not want to watch a show made by a robot or engage with computer-generated art. Writing prompts, in his view, is not art.
For those curious, players will be able to experience the handcrafted companion in Coven of the Chicken Foot on PC via Steam. Release date and localization details have not yet been announced.