The head of the Pokemon franchise is keeping his eye on AI and other emerging technologies as he considers how they might impact the popular games. Last month, Tsunekazu Ishihara, president of The Pokemon Company, had a wide-ranging interview with Nikkei Asia about the Pokemon franchise. During the interview, Ishihara was asked how he and The Pokemon Company considers “changing technologies” and their impact on Pokemon games. “In Pokemon Red and Green, released for Nintendo’s Game Boy in 1996, we incorporated a system that let users trade Pokemon with a communication cable,” Ishihara said. “We have always thought about ways to use technologies to have fun. However, such technologies are not that new. For instance, the Global Positioning System, which is used for Pokemon Go, is a conventional technology. We don’t restrict ourselves to cutting-edge technologies, and always think about what kind of games can actually be made while society is in the process of adapting various technologies. Just like connoisseurs, we have been evaluating technologies that, for example, are not new yet can be utilized for creating new games.”
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Ishihara was then asked if there are any emerging technologies that he’s keeping an eye on. Unsurprisingly, Ishihara mentioned AI technology as a potential game-changer for society. “I am interested in the evolution of generative artificial intelligence,” Ishihara said. “I think Sam Altman, CEO of the U.S. startup OpenAI, which developed the interactive artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT, is a unique person. He seems to be predicting the arrival of a new world, like Google did with its groundbreaking search engine.”
While Ishihara discussed how generative AI could potentially be integrated in everyday use, he stopped short of saying that Pokemon would use AI in future games. “Generative AI is definitely a useful technology,” Ishihara said. “Google Maps has become an indispensable tool when moving around, and generative AI has more potential than that. Initially, there may be issues such as privacy, but the technology won’t go away. Instead, those issues will be solved gradually, leading to an environment with a new normal in which people can use generative AI technologies in their daily lives.”
It’s not exactly that Ishihara is keeping an eye on AI technologies, which has become all the rage in Silicon Valley and at many corporations. A variety of industries are looking at how to incorporate AI into their businesses, even as people debate the ethics of using AI. Based on Ishihara’s comments, it doesn’t seem that The Pokemon Company will adopt AI immediately, although he doesn’t seem opposed to using AI if there’s a practical usage down the road.
