The convergence of AI and game creation is a topic that won’t be going away any time soon, especially when large companies like EA reportedly wants its devs to consider artificial intelligence to be “thought partners” when crafting titles. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer was recently asked about Xbox’s AI usage, and he indicated that it’s primarily being utilized for operational purposes for now.
“Our applications of AI today are mostly actually on the security and protection of our networks,” said Spencer during his appearance at the Paley International Council Summit (via IGN). “It’s now at a scale where you can’t really moderate the safety of those with just people alone. The volume is too high. So we have AI that we use to make sure that the conversation and topics that are happening, and for protected child accounts and other things and who gets to talk to those accounts to those people, is locked down by parents or guardians who are setting those controls. That’s our primary use of AI inside of our organization today, which maybe isn’t the most glamorous use of AI, but it’s something that I fundamentally believe in.”
As a company, Microsoft is going all in on AI and voice controls with a recently unveiled campaign to fully integrate that technology into Windows 11 machines. In the video game industry, prominent developers Hideo Kojima and Glen Schofield believe that AI tools should be embraced in game creation. A recent survey also found that over 50% of Japanese game publishers utilize AI in some way.
Spencer did address whether Microsoft encourages developers to use AI in the creative process, and he noted that he prefers to let the devs make that decision.
“I have found that creative teams will use tools that make their job easier when it makes their job easier,” said Spencer. “Any top-down mandate that ‘thou must use a certain tool’ … is not really a path to success. I look at the teams, and we make tools available, and I kind of let it organically percolate.”
A recent report indicated that Microsoft’s extremely ambitious profit goals may be harming the company, and possibly played a large role in its massive layoffs, as well as the price hikes for Xbox consoles and Game Pass subscriptions. It was also disclosed that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made $96.5 million in the company’s 2025 fiscal year. That’s approximately 480 times as much as the median company worker at Microsoft.
