AI is mass decompiling games. That's both awesome and scary.

Blog · Watch/Read

• AI is enabling “mass decompilation” of games, which Simon Willison frames as both “awesome” for its potential benefits and “scary” for its industry-wide implications.
• The “awesome” aspect is a “big win for preservation,” allowing old games to be ported, modified, and made accessible (e.g., via WebAssembly in browsers), ensuring continued access to digitally purchased software even after server shutdowns.
• The “scary part” highlights that AI-powered decompilation could “explode” the entire tech industry, enabling anyone to decompile and use software (including paid apps) against the will of creators, leading to potential theft by competitors and forced open-sourcing.
• This capability isn’t limited to old video games but applies to any software, posing significant risks of intellectual property theft and unauthorized open-sourcing for companies across the tech sector.