Maybe AI could create art, but while I live, I don't think I'll see it.
When a synthetic version of Hideo Kojima appeared in a promotional video for a Prada art installation, the deepfake sparked enough backlash to draw the legendary game director into a public reckoning with a technology he had once called a potential friend. Speaking to the Washington Post, Kojima declared he does not expect to witness meaningful AI-generated art in his lifetime and has no desire to pursue it — a striking reversal from the warmer embrace he expressed just months prior. The episode illuminates a tension that runs through the entire creative industry: how artists reconcile curiosity about transformative tools with the unsettling experience of those tools wearing their own face.
- An AI-generated deepfake of Kojima promoting a Prada art event — one celebrating analog creativity and human connection — struck fans as a jarring betrayal of the values the event was meant to honor.
- The backlash was swift enough to force Kojima out of ambiguity, compelling him to state publicly that he neither expects nor wants to see AI produce meaningful art within his lifetime.
- Yet his current skepticism sits uneasily beside his own recent history: just last fall he described AI as a potential creative 'friend' and efficiency amplifier, and a 2018 email suggests his enthusiasm stretches back even further.
- The creative industry remains fractured — some developers embracing AI, others organizing boycotts — and Kojima's shifting registers leave his actual position frustratingly difficult to locate.
- Whether his latest dismissal reflects a genuine change of heart or a strategic retreat from public discomfort, the question of AI's role in his future work remains conspicuously open.
Last month, Hideo Kojima's likeness appeared in a promotional video for Satellites II — a Prada art installation born from his creative partnership with filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn. The catch: it wasn't really him. A generative AI had rendered his face and voice as a synthetic stand-in, and fans recoiled. The backlash was sharp enough to push Kojima into a rare moment of public clarity.
Speaking with the Washington Post, the Death Stranding 2 director was blunt. Art, he said, is life — but AI creating meaningful art? He doesn't expect to see it happen in whatever years he has left, and he's not interested in chasing it. He framed the question as something for younger generations to wrestle with, distancing himself from a technology that had just impersonated him without his apparent blessing.
The statement lands with particular weight given what he said only months earlier. In a Wired Japan interview last fall, Kojima had described a future of creating 'together with AI,' calling the technology a potential friend and framing generative tools as amplifiers of human creativity rather than replacements for it. A recently surfaced 2018 email from Valve's Gabe Newell to Elon Musk even referenced Kojima's early enthusiasm for AI's role in his work.
The irony of the Satellites II incident is difficult to ignore. The event itself is a meditation on analog technology, music, and the bond between two artists — Kojima and Refn — united across geography and language by shared sensibility. That such an event was promoted using a synthetic copy of one of its creators gave the backlash an almost poetic edge.
Whether Kojima's current skepticism is a genuine philosophical shift or a tactical response to public discomfort remains unclear. His position on generative AI has proven slippery across time and audience. For now, he sounds resistant — but given how quickly both the technology and his own thinking have moved, it may be too soon to call it settled.
Hideo Kojima's face appeared in a promotional video for a Prada art installation last month—except it wasn't really him. The Death Stranding 2 director had been rendered by generative AI, a synthetic stand-in speaking about an event called Satellites II, a collaboration between Kojima and filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn. The video landed poorly. Fans recoiled at the sight of the deepfake, and the backlash forced Kojima to articulate where he actually stands on the technology that had just impersonated him.
In a recent conversation with the Washington Post, Kojima was unambiguous. "Art is life," he said, but when it comes to AI creating meaningful art, he's skeptical it will happen within his remaining years. "Maybe AI could create art, but while I live, I don't think I'll see it. I'm not interested in it." He framed the question as one for younger generations to solve, suggesting that how humanity deploys these tools remains an open question—and not one he's eager to answer himself.
The statement marks a notable shift. Just last fall, in an interview with Wired Japan, Kojima had spoken about AI in warmer terms, describing a future where he might create "together with AI" and referring to the technology as a potential "friend." He'd positioned generative tools as efficiency boosters rather than creativity replacements, suggesting they could amplify human work rather than supplant it. Even further back, in a 2018 email that recently surfaced, Valve's Gabe Newell had written to Elon Musk about a conversation with Kojima in which the director expressed enthusiasm about AI's future role in his work.
Satellites II itself—the event that prompted Kojima's latest comments—is a meditation on analog technology, music, and the creative kinship between Kojima and Refn, two artists separated by geography and language but connected by shared sensibility. The irony is sharp: an event celebrating human connection and analog values was promoted using a synthetic copy of one of its principals. Refn, who appeared as the character Heartman in Death Stranding 2, was also featured in the AI-generated promo, though the backlash centered primarily on Kojima's deepfake appearance.
What remains unclear is whether Kojima's recent dismissal represents a genuine change of heart or a tactical repositioning in response to public discomfort. His prolific social media presence and expanding creative ventures suggest someone engaged with contemporary culture, yet his actual stance on generative AI has proven difficult to pin down. Some developers in the industry have embraced the technology enthusiastically; others have organized boycotts. Kojima seems to occupy an uncertain middle ground, speaking in different registers depending on the moment and the audience.
The question of how AI fits into Kojima's creative future—and whether he'll use it in Death Stranding 2 or subsequent projects—remains unanswered. His latest comments suggest skepticism, even resistance. But given his track record of shifting positions on emerging technology, and given that the field itself is moving at a pace that outstrips most public discourse, it's worth watching whether his current stance holds or evolves again.
Citações Notáveis
Art is life. Maybe AI could create art, but while I live, I don't think I'll see it. I'm not interested in it.— Hideo Kojima, to the Washington Post
We'll find a good way, a good path to how we use technology, and it's really up to young people on how we use it.— Hideo Kojima, to the Washington Post
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When Kojima says he won't see meaningful AI art in his lifetime, is he being honest about the technology's limits, or is he drawing a line about what he personally wants to engage with?
I think it's both. He's making a claim about the technology—that it won't achieve what he considers "art" soon—but he's also making a personal choice. The distinction matters. He's not saying AI can't generate images or video. He's saying it won't create *art*, which for him seems to mean something with intention, with a human vision behind it.
But he called it a "friend" just months ago. That's a pretty warm way to describe something he now says he's not interested in.
Right. And that's the puzzle. Maybe he was exploring the idea, testing it out in conversation, and the deepfake incident crystallized something for him. Or maybe he was always hedging, and the public backlash gave him permission to be more direct about his reservations.
The timing is interesting—the AI promo for an event celebrating human connection and analog values.
Exactly. It's almost too on-the-nose. An event about Kojima and Refn's friendship, about transcending distance through genuine creative partnership, gets announced by a synthetic version of Kojima. The contradiction is hard to ignore.
Do you think he'll use AI tools in Death Stranding 2 anyway, regardless of what he's saying publicly?
That's the real question. His words suggest no. But Kojima has always been pragmatic about technology. He uses what serves the work. Whether that includes generative AI, we won't know until the game ships.