No Man's Sky dev team featured in story on AI stealing jobs from coders, studio lead Sean Murray can only ask "wtf"

No Man's Sky
(Image credit: Hello Games)

No Man's Sky lead Sean Murray has found himself as the unwitting face of the risk coders face from the rise of AI.

A recent article from Forbes asked whether, after a rise in cases of Generative AI replacing jobs in creative industries such as art and voice acting, programmers might be at risk next. Citing comments by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and a GitHub survey that found that 92% of US-based developers are using some form of artificial intelligence in their coding already, the article suggests that while low-level coding might be taken over by AI, human developers will still be required to manage anything more complex.

AI is obviously an important talking point within the industry at the moment, but what made this article particularly notable for one group of developers is their own inadvertent inclusion in it. Forbes' main image is of "developers photographed at their studio in Guildford, [Surrey, UK], on December 12, 2013."

Those developers include Sean Murray, and that studio is Hello Games, which, around 18 months after the photo was taken by our sister publication, Edge Magazine, would go on to release No Man's Sky. The redemption arc of the spacefaring game has been extremely well documented, but the long journey that Hello Games has been on in the decade since the photo was taken didn't stop studio head Sean Murray from recognizing himself and his colleagues.

Despite No Man's Sky's procedural generation, I don't think either it or Hello Games' next title, Light No Fire, relies on Generative AI, so I can understand Murray's confusion at suddenly finding himself the face of an article about AI programming. A succinct "wtf" appears to sum up his confusion, but it seems clear that No Man's Sky isn't about to pave the way for a new wave of AI programmers.

7 years into its legendary comeback, No Man's Sky claws back another 1% on its Steam review score: "I never thought it possible, but guys we might hit 'Very Positive' one day."

Ali Jones
News Editor

I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.

Read more
Mio and Zoe holding a dragon during the trailer for Split Fiction.
Split Fiction's Josef Fares thinks game devs should embrace AI: "I can understand the fact that some people could lose their jobs, but that goes for every new technology"
Tekken 8
Tekken lead Katsuhiro Harada says he's spent decades "mentally preparing" for AI to overtake humans, but it's not happening: "If AI had really advanced, we wouldn't be pouring 10, 20, 30 billion Yen into making games"
Looking over the countryside in Assassin's Creed Shadows
"I don't think AI can take away our creative voices": Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe actor thinks AI will only push people toward "human creativity"
Horizon Forbidden West
As Sony trots out an AI-powered Aloy, Horizon Zero Dawn fans revel in the irony: "The entire game is a warning against this kind of nonsense"
Baldur's Gate 3 Karlach
Baldur's Gate 3 Karlach actor says CEOs "just want to save money" with AI: "It'll destroy their reputation, their company, everything"
Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3
"I believe in experiencing life and art through human expression, not software": Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor calls for proper AI regulation
Latest in Action
Tomb Raider
5 years after Avengers, 2 years after its last layoffs, and who knows how long before Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider return, Crystal Dynamics announces another round of layoffs
Naoe looks over at a dense, lush, green forest in Assassin's Creed Shadows from a viewpoint
Getting Assassin's Creed Shadows on PS5 and Xbox Series X was all about adding "dynamism" to the open world, but the devs seem most proud about the trees
Naoe and Yasuke walk in the sunset in a screenshot from Assassin's Creed Shadows
Following Assassin's Creed Shadows controversy, Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director says "every big AAA game could be better," but players shouldn't be mad "just because some dude told you to"
Assassin's Creed Shadows Wanted Status
How to remove Wanted status in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Naoe kills a target with a black and white filter over the camera highlighting the red of blood spray in Assassin's Creed Shadows, with an On The Radar orange frame
Assassin's Creed Shadows "has a little bit of Tarantino flavor", but its real secret ingredient is intrigue: "It's almost like you're watching an episode of Shogun"
God of War
20 years later, God of War's original monster art has been revealed: behold this army of stick figures slapped on a whiteboard, no clue Kratos is coming for them
Latest in News
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode
Destiny 2 Lightfall
When Destiny 2 "weekly active users dropped lower and faster than we'd seen since 2018," Bungie assembled an A-Team to put out some fires: "We needed to do something"
Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo looking at a giant key which is also a clue
Netflix is rebooting Scooby-Doo as a live-action series from the producer of Supergirl and The Flash centered around a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp
Astro Bot
Astro Bot went through 23 pitch iterations before its director promised PlayStation "happy gameplay" and "overflowing charm," though it did once end with robot decapitation that made "some people really upset"
Tomb Raider
5 years after Avengers, 2 years after its last layoffs, and who knows how long before Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider return, Crystal Dynamics announces another round of layoffs
AI Limit
"AI is not as effective as it might appear": Dev of AI-focused Soulslike RPG says they didn't use any AI-generated content and it can't match "genuine creativity"