One of the reasons that led me to work on KATAVATIS was the need to create an escape valve. After decades working on projects for other companies, for other people, I wanted to make something more personal, both creatively and technically. I wanted to be able to make a game the way I saw fit, with the theme I wanted, with the characters I chose, without anyone judging or modifying my choices.
But why? Why am I wired like this? Why do I feel this need to express myself through making video games? Why can't I just go and do something else?
My first memory of seeing or playing a video game is hazy. I couldn't say whether it was first on a ZX Spectrum or a Nintendo NES, but what I am sure of is the collection of games that left a mark on me: Super Mario Bros, Zelda, Metroid, La Abadia del Crimen, Monkey Island, UFO: Enemy Unknown... one after another, it was like discovering a new world full of opportunities, secrets to uncover, and fascinating adventures.
When I was finally given my first computer, an Amstrad CPC 464, the first thing I typed on the keyboard after turning it on was: "I want a game like Super Mario Bros. but with X and Z..." When I pressed enter, all I got was this:
It was a letdown when I realized that making games was not as simple as asking the pleasant voice of the Enterprise computer on the holodeck. OpenAI and the like did not exist back then, so the next logical step was to pick up the Amstrad user manual and start learning to program in BASIC. Yes, back then user manuals taught you how to program, among other things.
I had never given much thought to that anecdote. But now I chuckle at the fact that what I wrote was basically what we call nowadays a "prompt" for a generative AI.
And the more I think about it, the more uneasy it makes me. What would have become of me if I had been born in this era? Would I have turned on my computer, pressed the dedicated key for summoning Copilot and asked it for a Super Mario? Would I have played that wretched copy of a game, gotten bored after five minutes, or in one afternoon, and gone back to watching Tik Toks?
Where am I going with all this? A lot has been written, and even more will be written, about current degenerative AIs. About the environmental damage they are causing, the hoarding of resources, the inflation, the more than likely bubble... and I have no intention of getting into those topics today.
What I want to talk about is art.
What is art? Are video games art? Is programming art? Is a skeet or tweet art? Is a beaver dam art? Can a biological instinct be considered art? Can an inanimate object create art? An algorithm?
It is an eternal debate, and I do not intend to resolve it here today. I can only give my opinion.
We can identify when an entity has the capacity for reasoning, not by running through a list of questions or administering an objective exam that always results in an absolute positive or negative (no such thing exists today, and I doubt it ever will), but by being guided by our instincts and... well, by our own capacity to reason.
I think the same is true of art: all human creation is art as long as it consists of the expression of the human being. That, for me, is art.
Some people will agree with my opinion, some will be diametrically opposed, and some will not have a formed opinion. Others may already have closed this devlog out of sheer boredom. It's ok.
I have written all this not with the intention of pontificating my truth, but so that you can understand me better, so that you know where I am coming from when you read what I am going to write next.
If there is something we can all agree on, it is that exposure to art provokes feelings in us, and that it has existed for as long as humanity itself.
The concept of art is controversial because art has no universally absolute or objective definition. It cannot be quantified or measured. You cannot say that one thing is "more art" than another, unless you are a snob (sorry). And the purpose of art is highly varied: there is no single motive.
Humans are social creatures. Even introverts crave social interaction, in our own way. Art is undoubtedly a form of expression, of sharing social bonds, of giving free rein to our concerns, sometimes of solving problems, inventions, creations... by humans. For humans.
For centuries, thousands of forms of art have accompanied us, and some schools have given rise to others. Restless minds cannot stop creating, imagining, searching for new ideas, adapting them, twisting them, until they become something completely different from what inspired them in the first place.
Human art is probably the greatest wonder of the universe. It is certainly the greatest contribution human beings have made to it. And for that reason, I believe it is our greatest sign of identity. What best defines us.
The day we can create machines in our image and likeness, then we will have to begin theological, ethical, or philosophical discussions... fortunately, that day has not arrived, nor will it arrive in my lifetime.
The day that has arrived is the one in which we have AI algorithms sophisticated enough to make calculations of patterns and statistical associations that, to an untrained eye, may seem like magic, or worse: like communicating with an intelligent being.
That is a problem, because they have reached the level necessary for hundreds of companies to sell us the idea that they have technology capable of creating art. And I mean art in any of its senses: programming, image creation, video, translation, or text creation...
And of course, I know it is a lost battle to argue about whether their degenerative AIs can create art or not, since fortunately for those speculators, the concept of art is complex and disputed, so they can say "of course it is!" and whoever wants to can accept their answer.
So I am not going to get into that debate. As I said, I do not want to pontificate. I only want to give my view of the matter.
When I create art, I do not simply copy the 3D models from "Popular Game of the Moment TM", modify their vectors a little, or repaint their textures slightly so it is not obvious that I copied them, give it another title, cover myself legally, and release a clone that says absolutely nothing about my craft, or me as a person.
When I create art, I take parts of my childhood, of my adulthood, things I liked, things that impressed me, things that make me cry or make me laugh, what I misremember, what I remember perfectly, the nostalgia, the desire for change, the will to fight for something better, the urge to let myself go and let the world go to hell... I take everything that made me who I am today and distill it, with the alterations and consequences of the present moment affecting the mix, which results in me creating something unique and personal. Something that not even myself could replicate at another moment in my life, or in the life of our universe.
That, to me, is art.
Knowing how degenerative AI works, it saddens me to think that we may come to live in a future where everything we call art becomes the creation of those algorithms.
Like many other fans of the zombie movie genre, I have thought a lot about what a zombie apocalypse would be like in the real world. It had never occurred to me that the real zombie threat was AI algorithms replacing human creation and expression. And yet, that is the future waiting for us.
Time to prepare to fight the horde, I guess.
PD. Sorry for the offtopic (or is it?). Hopefully next devlogs will be more focused on the game. I guess I needed to get this out of my system. As always, have a great day!