Nintendo is choosing human creativity over AI. In a recent call with investors, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said that while the video game industry has had a long relationship with AI, technology alone cannot create great games.

“In the game industry, AI-like technologies have long been used—for example, to control the movements of opponent characters—so I believe that game development and AI technology have always had a close relationship,” Furukawa said, according to an English translation of the call published by Nintendo. “Generative AI, which is becoming a big topic recently, can be used in creative ways, but we recognize that it may also raise issues with intellectual property rights.”

Furukawa said that while Nintendo was “open to utilizing technological developments,” the company has “decades of know-how in creating the best gaming experiences for our players.”

“We will work to continue delivering value that is unique to Nintendo and cannot be created by technology alone,” Furukawa said.

Nintendo’s competitors have taken vastly different approaches to AI at a time when the industry is laying off employees. Microsoft’s XBox announced a multiyear partnership last year with Inworld AI, an AI engine for games, to develop an AI copilot for game designers and an engine that can generate “new narratives with dynamically generated stories, quests, and dialogue for players to experience.”

Meanwhile, Playstation sees AI as an inevitable partner in video game development. “Advancements in AI will create more personalized experiences and meaningful stories for consumers,” Asad Qizilbash, Playstation’s head of productions, said in May. “This is important for the younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences, who are the first generations that grew up digitally and are looking for personalization across everything.”

While many tech companies are eager to integrate AI into their products, Nintendo’s approach sets it apart from its competitors. They’ve made clear that the human touch is an important part of how they design their games.

“Nintendo’s business began with hanafuda and karuta [two types of Japanese] playing cards, and after expanding into various other businesses, the company decided to focus on entertainment, which fortunately led to video games,” Furukawa said on the investor call. “Even within the world of video games, Nintendo has taken its own path rather than competing with its rivals.”