Dan Houser says he’s experimenting with AI for his next Absurd Ventures game but insists current tools are far less capable than the tech industry claims.
Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser has revealed he is experimenting with AI for his next game – but warns the technology is nowhere near as magical as Silicon Valley hype would suggest.
During an appearance on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, Houser said his new studio Absurd Ventures is using machine learning technology both narratively and technically for its debut project, part of a transmedia universe called Absurdaverse.
However, despite the buzz around AI-driven development, the former Grand Theft Auto lead writer stressed its real-world usefulness remains limited.
He said: “We are dabbling in using AI. The truth is a lot of it’s not as useful as some of the companies would have you believe yet. It’s not going to solve all the problems.”
While the story of his new novel A Better Paradise – set in the same universe as the game – features AI characters, Houser says today’s tools excel only in narrow tasks.
He explained: “AI’s great at some of the tasks and can’t do the other tasks yet… [Companies] claim it can solve every single problem, and it really can’t.”
Houser left Rockstar in 2020 after helping steer GTA from cult hit to the billion-dollar juggernaut that defined modern open-world games.
Reflecting on GTA III’s breakthrough, he recalled that “no one outside of our company was very excited by it” in 2001 – but the team felt “something really magical” as the game came together.
That instinct proved right, as GTA III would go on to reshape the industry.
Absurd Ventures’ first game is still “a few years” away, but Houser promised the title will boast a large-scale narrative experience built on lessons from Hitman-style systemic design and Rockstar’s cinematic storytelling.
Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser toying with AI for his next project
