Shorting human imagination

Wall Street just saw a (Google) Genie and immediately tried to short human imagination.

So…Google recently demoed 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲, a prototype that can spin up interactive worlds.

And the mere sight of an AI generating a virtual world was enough to make the stock market believe that 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗮.

The invisible hand threw the controller.
And, the market rage-quit.

I mean…If tools made hits, Home Depot would be running Hollywood.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱.

Meanwhile, Take-Two is out here doing t𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵: making a franchise people line up for, voluntarily, with cash.

They just posted $𝟭.𝟳𝟲𝗕 in quarterly net bookings, up 28%, and reiterated 𝗚𝗧𝗔 𝗩𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵 (𝘠𝘢𝘺𝘺𝘺)

That is a number so large it probably has its own gravitational pull.
it is also a gentle reminder that “the end of creativity” keeps getting rescheduled, usually right after earnings.

𝗦𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗮𝘁.

A few boring truths that keep surviving every shiny demo:

 • 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 keep getting cheaper. 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 keeps sending invoices.
 • “World generation” is the 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀. The 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 are mission design, pacing, comedy, QA, performance, marketing, and the uniquely human art of making players care.
 • 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 do not migrate because a demo looked cool. They migrate because their friends did.

Also, Project Genie is literally labeled an 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦.
When did “experimental” mean “immediate total replacement of an industry that takes 6 years and 600 people to ship one game.

So where does the wedge actually live?
Tooling, IP, community, distribution?

Because I’m starting to suspect it’s 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹: the writers, designers, engineers, and producers who do the part that doesn’t fit in a demo.

i mean, I’m kidding.
But also: it’s humans.
Obviously.