Hideo Kojima Is Concerned About AI Making Death Stranding 2 A Reality

Hideo Kojima has a habit of making games that become slightly more uncomfortable to revisit a few years later, and Death Stranding 2 may be heading down the same path.

Artificial intelligence and automation are central to the sequel’s story, where human porters have largely been replaced by automated delivery systems and technology increasingly dictates how people live. Kojima said that’s exactly the kind of future he’s worried about.

Speaking to Japanese outlet Denfaminicogamer around Death Stranding 2’s launch, Kojima explained that his concern isn’t simply that humanity is becoming “too connected,” but that technology could begin making decisions on our behalf.

“Rather than being ‘too connected,’ I think it’s dangerous to make decisions because you’re being guided,” Kojima said.

He specifically pointed toward AI recommending products, entertainment, and even potential partners based on collected data, worrying that people could eventually be “unknowingly led into a predetermined lifestyle.” Basically, Hideo Kojima is worried about how the authenticity of human experiences could end up being eroded by machine thinking.

In an older interview, he mentioned how “Now there are so many people who can’t live without their smartphones. AI is like that.” Kojima has previously described AI as something creators may eventually work alongside and acknowledged its usefulness for tasks like restoring old films. He understands the importance of the internet for connections in the modern world.

We’ve come to the point where your every action is somehow tracked, analyzed and then monetized. Mass surveillance is becoming normalized, algorithms feed us biased opinions to either shape our opinions or entrench existing ones even further. More and more people are becoming reliant on AI systems to get menial tasks and basic thinking done. For all you know, this article you’re reading might be part of the problem. One could say that humanity has begun outsourcing critical thinking and organic discovery in favor of convenience.

Kojima specifically mentioned how so many people simply hopped on the bandwagon of calling Death Stranding a walking simulator, without ever trying to experience it or think about it for themselves, simply because that’s what they saw online.

Anyone who’s finished Death Stranding 2 can probably see where this is going.

Without getting deep into spoilers, artificial intelligence and mass automation play a major role in the game’s conflict. The Automated Porter Assistant System, or APAS, has already replaced much of the human delivery workforce, while the story repeatedly questions what happens when technological convenience starts removing human choice.

“I have no intention to say, ‘Stop using the Internet.’ Because it’s really convenient. I also think it is because of the Internet that we were able to survive the Covid pandemic. However, I do believe it may be dangerous to get addicted to it.”

But as Death Stranding 2 repeatedly argues, convenience and progress aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Kojima provided his own answer for dealing with similar thoughts and feelings.

“What’s important about convenient technology is how you’re going to use it. My personal answer to this question is spoken through the mouths of my characters towards the end of Death Stranding 2. Please listen to what they say.” Kojima invites players to think critically about their relationship with technology and find their own answers rather than waiting for someone or something to provide the perfect solution.

Considering the first Death Stranding released only months before a global pandemic made isolation, remote communication, and delivery workers suddenly central to everyday life, we can only hope that won’t be the case for the sequel.