Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto shared his thoughts on generative AI during a press conference held after being selected to receive Japan's Order of Culture. He noted that while having AI handle tasks provides an opportunity to reflect on what "truly creating" means, he also warned that the dangerous part is becoming satisfied with the execution process and mistakenly believing one has created something good.
On October 23, the Japanese government named Shigeru Miyamoto, Representative Director and Fellow at Nintendo, as one of eight recipients of the 2026 Order of Culture. The Order of Culture is a decoration presented by the Japanese government to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to cultural development, marking the first time it has been awarded in the field of "Media Arts (Gaming)." Miyamoto was previously designated a Person of Cultural Merit in 2019, and the award ceremony will be held on November 3.
On October 22, the day before the announcement, Miyamoto held a press conference for about an hour at Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto. His comments regarding AI were included in a Q&A reported by Japanese media outlets including Famitsu.
He first cited an example from the past design industry. In the past, designers learned lettering in school to draw neat characters for posters, and doing that alone was enough to be called a designer. However, once computers and word processors took over the technical labor, an individual's sense of layout and design ability finally came to light. Miyamoto added that the exact same thing is happening right now with AI.
Miyamoto draws a distinction between "creating" and "doing work." Establishing the overarching framework is creating, whereas filling in the blanks and neatly polishing the result is doing work. "Troublingly, doing the work itself is enjoyable," he remarked, adding, "What is scary is becoming satisfied with that work and deluding yourself into thinking you have created something quite good."
That is not to say he was disparaging AI. Miyamoto evaluated, "The more tasks AI takes off our hands, the more it gives everyone a chance to seriously think about what true creation really is, which is a very good thing." However, he noted that while works made merely by copying existed in design past, such things never last long.
At the end of the press conference, he emphasized that while AI may eventually be able to do everything, there are still things left that only humans can do.
Debates surrounding the use of generative AI continue across the gaming industry. Just this week, Epic Games included the phrase "AI Required" in an AI game jam announcement, only to correct it an hour and a half later. Miyamoto's insight—that while AI should be acknowledged as a tool, the value of the final result must ultimately be judged by humans—is a point worth reflecting on for both developers and players alike as the presence of AI in game development grows.
