Reading a recent article from our partners at Gaijin about the production issues in War Thunder tied to GenAI, I’m reminded once again that in production, the leading role still belongs to people.

The Weight of AI Headlines

I know a lot of artists are exhausted right now. Every time a new AI tool drops, it feels like another warning that our profession is about to disappear. And honestly? I get that feeling. The last few years have been brutal for the games industry — layoffs, studio closures, endless uncertainty.

What Clients Actually Pay For

But here’s something I’ve learned after hiring artists and working with AAA clients for many years: I have never — not once — heard a client ask for someone because they can push buttons faster. Not ever. What they consistently beg me for is something completely different. Taste. Artistic judgment. The ability to look at a problem and understand it before trying to solve it. The courage to make a call when there’s no clear answer. The skill to talk to a team, to take ownership, to explain why an asset should look the way it does.

The Skills That Can't Be Automated

AI is great at generating options — thousands of them, in seconds. But it has no clue which option is right for your game. AI can speed up production, sure. But it cannot understand the vision behind a project. AI can take over repetitive tasks. But it cannot replace artistic thinking, because artistic thinking isn’t about speed — it’s about direction, empathy, and context.

My Advice to Artists

So when young artists ask me, “What should I focus on next?” my answer is simple: don’t just invest in your craft. Invest in your ability to understand people, projects, and purpose. Learn to communicate your ideas, even messy ones. Learn to make decisions under ambiguity. Learn to connect the creative side of development with the technical and business sides. Because that’s where real value is being created today. And those are the hardest skills to automate.

The Future Belongs to Leaders

The future does not belong to those who try to compete with AI on speed or volume. That’s a losing game. The future belongs to those who learn how to lead AI — to orchestrate it, to point it in the right direction, to filter its output through human taste and judgment. Don’t fear the machine. Learn to drive it.