Dan Houser, the creator of "GTA" and co-founder of Rockstar Games, left the company in early 2020 after 22 years at the company.In 2021, he founded a new company, Absurd Ventures, which currently has a podcast series, a graphic novel, a novel, and a game in development.

Dan Houser has written scripts for every Rockstar game from GTA London: 1969 to Red Dead Redemption 2.Most recently, he appeared in a nearly three-hour interview on the Lex Fridman Podcast.The lengthy conversation covered a plethora of topics - from games and movies to the process of creating characters.

Among the many characters, Dan Houser said that his favorite is Niko Bellic, the Serbian immigrant protagonist in "GTA4".

"I think he's one of the most innovative and in a sense morally justified characters. He does a lot of things to fight for the 'right thing.' He's also one of the kindest people in a sense.

Is he the best protagonist in the "GTA" series? I think he is the most innovative protagonist in the "GTA" series.Structurally speaking, he may be a bit "too nice".But he's also tough.I really like CJ in San Andreas.I felt that Maylay's performance - especially the way he spoke - brought humanity to the character.This is not due to the script, but to the quality of the dubbing performance that makes CJ so three-dimensional.

I also liked something about Michael, who was so restrained in his performance, but the actor who played him loved the character so much and infused a lot of humanity into this unprincipled, flawed man who would betray everyone.I thought Ned Luke's performance was excellent, but he didn't get as much praise as Steven Ogg who played Trevor, even though Ogg's performance was equally wonderful.However, I feel that the character created by Ned Luke plays a stabilizing and core role in the entire game.

So I like all of them, but if I had to pick one, I would probably love Niko the most."

When talking about the secret of the success of the "GTA" series, Dan Houser said that the reason why the game is not launched frequently is a key factor in its success-this "scarcity" stimulates players' expectations, and the expectations are converted into sales.He also predicted that "GTA6" will "sell very well" when it is released on May 26, 2026, although he did not participate in writing it.

Of course, another reason is that Rockstar has always been committed to innovation and constantly pushing the boundaries of the gaming medium.

When talking about the rise of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), Houser said that he is not too worried because they cannot create "magic" and will most likely only be used to produce "pretty good, but cheap" content.

"From my limited understanding of how language models work, they don't replace good ideas. They can't really come up with new, great ideas. What they do do is work at a fundamental level.

So I think the field is going to get harder for people who want to get into it but aren't very talented.If you're not a good concept artist, you might be in trouble.

But if you have original ideas, I think you're fine.

They have already achieved the first 90% of making a language 'sound human', maybe even 95% in some aspects.But the final 5% improvement may cost 95% of the effort.

In my experience in technical fields such as facial animation, the hardest part is always the last little detail."

"So, maybe I'm an old fogy who hates new technology, but I'm not as scared as others. I think you're going to end up with a lot of work that looks the same. AI will help people be creative to some extent, but it will also drive some people away who shouldn't be in the industry in the first place.

But if you have talent, you'll still be fine.

I don’t think AI can create ‘magic’, but it will be very good at producing cheap, passable content."

When talking about one of his new work settings, "A Better Paradise" (novel), Houser revealed that it is a near-future dystopian work, and the story explores a character named Nigel Dave - an artificial intelligence full of contradictions and semi-antisocial tendencies.It "knows everything" but lacks intelligence and is jealous of human emotional experience.

Houser confirmed that a game based on A Better Paradise is in early development at Absurd Ventures' Santa Monica studio.In addition, another open world game based on the "Absurdaverse" world view is also in the pipeline, but it will take several years to complete.