Over the past few weeks, I set myself a “small” semi-professional challenge. I wanted to put artificial intelligence to the test to get a better handle on the beast, by having it build a project from A to Z.
So that’s what I did in my spare time, and absolutely everything (except one music track) was generated by artificial intelligence, under my direction. Everything was checked, monitored, adjusted.
What better for this challenge than making a 3D game? And what better than a remake of a classic with a twist? I chose Pac-Man, a game that’s easy to play and understand, and added a first-person view.
Whenever a detail headed in the wrong direction, I took back the controls, barely touching the code, until the result matched what I had in mind. Sometimes I started a whole section over.
The exercise was conclusive: the game exists, but it also showed me that my job isn’t on the line, far from it. Humans are still needed, and that’s reassuring. If I had let the AI do its thing, the game would have been mediocre.
The programming profession is changing before our eyes. We’ll be writing less code and acting more like conductors, reviewing generated code. Nothing should be left to chance.
Some will say AI is bad, and I’ll agree with them if it’s used precisely to cut humans out. If it’s used to pass yourself off as an artist or a programmer, the only result will be mediocrity on a massive scale.
And I decided to jump on the AI bandwagon because not doing so would have led me straight to obsolescence, just like the people who resisted the Internet in its early days in the ’90s.
That’s exactly the difference between good use and all the generated junk we see every day. It’s available to everyone, but it isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t a shortcut to skip learning.
AI must never replace judgment or artistic expression. It should serve them, not the other way around. Using it carelessly can be as dangerous as running through a crowd with a knife.
AI is here to stay, but we absolutely have to master it. First so we don’t fear it, but above all because it’s a tool that lets us, as professionals (especially solo entrepreneurs), go further, faster, without lowering quality — as long as we stay in control.
Oh, and if the test game (3D Pac-Man) interests you, it’s available on itch.io. It’s playable in French, English (and Spanish, not proofread) on Windows, Mac and Linux. Made with love… and a lot of prompts.
Let me know what you think!