John Carmack Defends Microsoft's AI-Generated Quake II Level
The co-creator of Quake doesn't see anything wrong with AI being used to create a level for his iconic shooter
I think you are misunderstanding what this tech demo actually is, but I will engage with what I think your gripe is — AI tooling trivializing the skillsets of programmers, artists, and designers.
— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) April 7, 2025
My first games involved hand assembling machine code and turning graph paper…
Carmack acknowledged that AI may lead to fewer jobs for game developers before suggesting "it could go the way of farming, where labor-saving technology allow a tiny fraction of the previous workforce to satisfy everyone." He went to address anti-AI sentiment by stating that "'don't use power tools because they take people’s jobs' is not a winning strategy."
Microsoft has shared the Quake II AI demo online, and it can be played for free. The demo is fairly limited compared to later games in the franchise, and it is not very comparable to a human-designed level. But the thing that some players and developers appear to fear is the idea that AI could eventually put something together that would be indistinguishable from a game made by a team of developers. AI technology isn't there yet, and it remains to be seen if it will ever reach that point.
Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser recently addressed the future of AI in game development, and said that there have been internal discussions about it. However, he went on to say that Nintendo still believes "that what makes our games special is our developers. Their artistic capabilities. Their insight into how people play. So there is always, always going to be a human touch and a human engagement in how we develop and build our games."
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Quake Quake II PCThis story originally appeared on: GameSpot - Author:UK GAG
