Since the launch of ChatGPT and other AI technologies capable of complex tasks, including art creation, information sharing, and fiction writing, fear of job loss has risen within global creative communities. According to Electronic Arts CEO, Andrew Wilson, this fear has been widely felt in the games industry – but regardless, he believes the technology will have a greatly beneficial impact on the workforce.
‘The fear of displacement of the workforce is something we read a lot about and we talk a lot about,’ Wilson reportedly said during a recent EA Q4 earnings call, per IGN. ‘As we think about every revolution over the course of time from the agricultural revolution to the industrial revolution and on, there has been displacement of the workforce in the near term, and then meaningful increases in workforce opportunities over the longer term.’
‘Our hope is that AI represents the same opportunity, and we’re working very closely inside of our company to ensure that our people benefit in that way and actually facilitate them to do more things.’
According to Wilson, while short-term job losses may be a consequence of adopting AI technology, more complex jobs will arise in future, allowing people to adapt their skills to new tasks.
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Further doubling down on EA’s AI-positive approach, IGN reports the spotlight of the company earnings call was later given to EA COO Laura Miele, who shared similar sentiment about AI and its potential to aid and speed up creative output.
‘So in game development you would imagine the velocity of content, creative iteration is going to be advantaged greatly by having really smart content tools,’ Miele said.
‘As we think about live game support at scale there’s going to be some really great imagery detection, issue detection, economic modelling that we’re going to be able to apply as we continue to grow these connected ecosystems. So we’re pretty optimistic and excited and inspired about this new wave of AI.’
EA has reportedly promised to work with other games industry leaders, as well as local governments and regulators, to ensure its implementation of AI is ethical and protects consumers – but notably, Wilson and Miele did not openly discuss how potential job losses may impact workers amidst one of the toughest economic periods in recent memory.
Both the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution, which were specifically cited by Wilson as historic examples of sweeping technology change, transformed society – but equally, led to widespread job losses, riots, and societal upheaval.
