{"id":1579552,"date":"2026-05-15T12:58:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T12:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/YXYrPPdtpEXNFeMqPvxLd3"},"modified":"2026-05-15T12:58:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T12:58:56","slug":"stardew-valley-creator-eric-barone-would-never-use-ai-instead-wants-to-rely-on-human-creativity-i-feel-like-that-should-take-priority-over-a-soulless-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stardew-valley-creator-eric-barone-would-never-use-ai-instead-wants-to-rely-on-human-creativity-i-feel-like-that-should-take-priority-over-a-soulless-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone would never use AI, instead wants to rely on human creativity\u2014’I feel like that should take priority over a soulless machine’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, creator of Stardew Valley<\/a>, one of the most impactful indie games of the last decade and dev behind the upcoming highly anticipated Haunted Chocolatier<\/a>, knows a thing or two about being creative. And like many other creatives he’s recently been touting the importance of human-made art and listening to your gut instead of relying on a machine to drop prompts in your lap.<\/p>\n

“I think anything\u2019s lost when you use AI for any creative thing, any step of the way\u2014unless it\u2019s being used for very specific zoomed-in cases, maybe,” Barone says in an interview with GameInformer<\/a>. “You\u2019re offloading creativity to an algorithm, which I think is always gonna undermine the pure and authentic human element of what you\u2019re doing.” <\/p>\n

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\"Stardew<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: ConcernedApe)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

AI<\/a> being used as a creative tool is an unfortunate yet all too common development we’ve seen in this industry\u2014whether it be in benign AI video contests<\/a>, Sony using it to “augment artist capabilities<\/a>, or a as glorified yassification tool<\/a>. But even still there are even more artists holding steadfast in their own creative capabilities by demonstrating just how valuable human-made art is.<\/p>\n

“For me, as someone who wants to express myself in an artistic way, I wouldn\u2019t ever want to use AI for any sort of creative thing, because it\u2019s beside the point of what I\u2019m doing,” Barone continues. “My goal is to express myself in a creative way. Why would I let an AI do that for me? <\/p>\n

“At the very least, let another human being express themselves if you need help. That\u2019s probably what I would say. There are plenty of humans out there that would like an opportunity to express themselves. I feel like that should take priority over a soulless machine.”<\/p>\n

But Barone isn’t the only creative to warn against the lacklustre beast that is AI: <\/p>\n