Gabe Newell's Take on AI: Shaking Up How We Code and Create Games
I was reading this fascinating PC Gamer article about Gabe Newell's thoughts on AI, and honestly, it got me thinking about how much the tech and gaming worlds are changing. The whole thing came from an interview with YouTuber Zalkar Saliev. The full interview isn't out yet, but the snippets they've released are pretty eye-opening.
So here's the deal - when asked whether young people should focus on technical skills or just using AI tools, Newell didn't pick sides. He basically said, "Why not both?" I think that's smart. The more you understand how AI and machine learning systems work under the hood, the better you'll be at using them. But here's the wild part - he pointed out that people who can't even code might end up becoming "more effective developers of value" than folks who've been programming for a decade! Just by using AI to "scaffold" their abilities. That's kinda mind-blowing, right?
Newell stressed this isn't an either/or thing. Even if you're just a "pure tool user," you can still get huge benefits from these AI systems. But the best results come from mixing both approaches - they complement each other.
It's no shock that Newell's optimistic about new tech. He's always pushed Valve in fresh directions. In 2019, he even co-founded Starfish Neuroscience, which works on neural interfaces and might ship their first brain chip this year! And Valve isn't just making games - they're behind Steam and Steam Labs too. Their team recently mentioned that by 2025, a fifth of all Steam releases will have Generative AI features. Right now, it's about 7% - which is eight times more than last year. That's crazy fast growth!
But there's definitely a cautious side to all this artificial intelligence stuff. Some people think LLMs will replace human programmers completely. Others point out how much machine-generated code still messes up. And then there's the harsh reality - like when King laid off 200 staff and replaced them with the very AI tools they helped create. Ouch.
I've found that in software development, the future probably lies somewhere in the middle. Both deep technical knowledge and smart use of AI tools matter. The way they work together will shape what comes next.
What do you think? Will AI tools really let non-programmers leapfrog experienced coders? Or is there still no substitute for years of programming experience?