Dan Houser Casts A Critical Eye On AI’s Influence Across Tech And Games

Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser has used two recent media appearances to outline a restrained view of artificial intelligence and the people promoting it. Speaking during a radio interview and a separate television segment, he described a widening gap between AI’s marketing and its practical value, and questioned the judgment of the executives positioning the technology as a cultural pivot point.

Houser, now focused on his novel and the debut game from his studio Absurd Ventures, said the industry’s current AI advocates often present themselves as arbiters of creativity and human progress without demonstrating the qualities they claim to elevate.

"Some of these people trying to define the future of humanity, creativity, or whatever it is using AI, are not the most humane or creative people," he said during an interview on Virgin Radio UK with host Chris Evans. "So they're sort of saying, 'We're better at being human than you are.' It's obviously not true." — Dan Houser

He argued that a narrow segment of the tech world is steering public expectations while lacking a rounded sense of perspective. That concern sharpened when the conversation turned to how AI systems are trained and how they interact with the broader internet.

"I think that AI is gonna eventually eat itself, because as far as I understand it… the models scour the internet for information, but the internet's going to get more and more full of information made by the models," he said. "So it's sort of like when we fed cows with cows and got mad cow disease." — Dan Houser

Houser acknowledged that AI performs certain tasks effectively but said its current limits are often obscured by ambitious claims. He recalled similar points during a recent appearance on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, where he noted the gap between the technology’s advertised reach and its real capabilities. There, he said, AI remains a broad label applied to a wide array of systems rather than a unified breakthrough.

He reiterated that the technology’s boosters tend to promise full-spectrum solutions despite uneven results. According to Houser, this pattern creates a cycle in which investors and platform owners treat AI as a near-inevitable future while relying on hypothetical benefits to justify ongoing spending.

His comments echoed perspectives voiced by other developers who remain cautious about fully integrating AI into creative pipelines. Teams behind projects such as The Witcher 3 and Dispatch have raised concerns that games built primarily through automated tools risk losing character and intentionality. Some studios continue to explore AI-assisted workflows, but enthusiasm varies widely.

Houser’s own studio is experimenting with AI for its upcoming Absurdaverse project, though with measured expectations. He said the tools inform parts of development and appear in the narrative framework of his novel, yet they fall short of the sweeping transformation often promised by major tech companies.

He also described a broader environment in which technology platforms accumulate wealth and influence at an unprecedented scale. These companies, he said, begin with aspirations to improve the world but face a moment where commercial incentives reshape their aims. AI, in his view, sits at the center of this shift, drawing investment and rhetoric that often outrun the underlying systems.

Despite these warnings, Houser acknowledged that AI has produced notable breakthroughs and that some applications are already proving useful. However, he maintained that many public statements remain designed to drive valuations rather than reflect the technology’s current performance.

His criticism arrives at a time when AI has become a defining issue in game development. Major publishers are testing it across animation, writing support, and asset production, while others resist its inclusion outright. As the debate grows, Houser’s remarks carry weight due to his experience shaping some of the medium’s most influential titles and his continued involvement in narrative-driven projects.

Read also, Dan Houser Reflects On Gaming’s Two Diverging Paths: His recent comments build on earlier remarks about a growing divide between creative ambition and commercial pressure. Speaking on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, he described an industry pulled between experimentation and financial expectations, a tension he believes will shape the direction of large studios and independent creators alike.