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Media & Arts·P Space·Evidence-backed problem·Published 2026-07-12

As AI floods our culture, here’s why we must protect human storytelling in games

Abstract: A few days ago, I clicked a button on my phone to send funds to a company in Singapore and so took ownership of the video game I co-created and am lead writer for: Zombies, Run! I am a novelist, I wrote the bestselling, award-winning The Power, which was turned into an Amazon Prime TV series starring Toni Collette. What on earth am I doing buying a games company? Well. First of all. Zombies, Run! is special. It’s special to me – the game started as a Kickstarter and the community that grew up around it has always b

TRV-2026-0076JournalismPermanent record — cite & verify
As AI floods our culture, here’s why we must protect human storytelling in games
The quick read

What happened: the co-creator and lead writer of Zombies, Run! bought back the studio behind the game, transferring funds via phone to a Singapore company, motivated by a belief that human storytelling must be protected as AI tools spread.

Why it matters: the move highlights a concrete counter to the push to replace writers with AI large language models in games, while acknowledging AI writing is fine for boilerplate text that is always roughly the same, leaving uncertainty about where the line will be drawn and whether such independent ownership can sustain human-authored work.

Main points
  • Zombies, Run! started as a Kickstarter and built a supportive community around audio storytelling.
  • Author sent funds to a company in Singapore to take ownership of the game she co-created and leads as writer.
  • Author is novelist of The Power, adapted into an Amazon Prime TV series starring Toni Collette.
  • Game is played on smartphone, iPhone or Android, delivering zombie apocalypse stories through headphones during exercise.
Problem

Game studios attempting to replace human writers with AI large language models risks losing human storytelling in games.

The rundown

Naomi Alderman describes clicking a button to send funds to a company in Singapore to buy the studio behind Zombies, Run!, the audio fitness game she co-created and lead writes, which began as a Kickstarter.

Her purchase is framed as a defense of human storytelling at a time when some games think AI can replace writers, raising questions about where AI boilerplate is acceptable and whether community-supported human-authored games can remain viable.

Sources

Reader signal

How should this claim be treated?

The debate