Shigeru Miyamoto says human designers will still have a job even if generative AI ends up handling most of the work. The Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time creator made the case at a press conference ahead of his upcoming Order of Culture award from the Emperor of Japan.
Miyamoto compared the current moment to the shift from typewriters to word processors, arguing that better tools tend to reveal what a designer can actually do. He warned that people can get so attached to the labor itself that they mistake busy work for a finished, high-quality product.
He also pointed to designs that were little more than copy and paste, noting that they rarely stand the test of time because they lack the creator's intent. For Miyamoto, the computer is an assistant for the labor, and the individual's intent is what makes the work matter.
Nintendo's stance is more cautious than some rivals', with Square Enix openly talking about being aggressive with AI, but it's a reminder that the best games still come from people with something to say.
