http://simonwillison.net/2026-03-11T14:47:09+00:00Simon Willison2026-03-11T14:47:09+00:002026-03-11T14:47:09+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2026/Mar/11/john-carmack/#atom-tag

<blockquote cite="https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1405932642005041153"><p>It is hard for less experienced developers to appreciate how rarely architecting for future requirements / applications turns out net-positive.</p></blockquote> <p class="cite">&mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1405932642005041153">John Carmack</a>, a tweet in June 2021</p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/software-engineering">software-engineering</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/yagni">yagni</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/john-carmack">john-carmack</a></p>

2025-04-07T19:39:00+00:002025-04-07T19:39:00+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/7/john-carmack/#atom-tag

<blockquote cite="https://twitter.com/id_aa_carmack/status/1909311174845329874"><p>My first games involved hand assembling machine code and turning graph paper characters into hex digits. Software progress has made that work as irrelevant as chariot wheel maintenance. [...]</p> <p>AI tools will allow the best to reach even greater heights, while enabling smaller teams to accomplish more, and bring in some completely new creator demographics.</p> <p>Yes, we will get to a world where you can get an interactive game (or novel, or movie) out of a prompt, but there will be far better exemplars of the medium still created by dedicated teams of passionate developers.</p> <p>The world will be vastly wealthier in terms of the content available at any given cost.</p> <p>Will there be more or less game developer jobs? That is an open question. It could go the way of farming, where labor saving technology allow a tiny fraction of the previous workforce to satisfy everyone, or it could be like social media, where creative entrepreneurship has flourished at many different scales. Regardless, “don’t use power tools because they take people’s jobs” is not a winning strategy.</p></blockquote> <p class="cite">&mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/id_aa_carmack/status/1909311174845329874">John Carmack</a></p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/game-design">game-design</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai">ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai-ethics">ai-ethics</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/john-carmack">john-carmack</a></p>

2019-11-14T01:18:06+00:002019-11-14T01:18:06+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2019/Nov/14/john-carmack/#atom-tag

<blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/100006735798590/posts/2547632585471243/"><p>I have sometimes wondered how I would fare with a problem where the solution really isn’t in sight. I decided that I should give it a try before I get too old.</p> <p>I’m going to work on artificial general intelligence (AGI).</p> <p>I think it is possible, enormously valuable, and that I have a non-negligible chance of making a difference there, so by a Pascal’s Mugging sort of logic, I should be working on it.</p></blockquote> <p class="cite">&mdash; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100006735798590/posts/2547632585471243/">John Carmack</a></p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai">ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/john-carmack">john-carmack</a></p>

2017-11-12T15:50:57+00:002017-11-12T15:50:57+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2017/Nov/12/carmack/#atom-tag

<blockquote cite="https://twitter.com/id_aa_carmack/status/929389759624916992"><p>Anyone that has me on too high of a pedestal should see me fumbling around with git.</p></blockquote> <p class="cite">&mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/id_aa_carmack/status/929389759624916992">John Carmack</a></p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/git">git</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/john-carmack">john-carmack</a></p>