Mick Gordon, Composer of Doom: 'Damn AI'

Australian composer Mick Gordon is highly respected for his experimental and creative approach. For Killer Instinct in 2013, he used a kangling, a traditional Tibetan instrument usually carved from a human thighbone or shinbone, and used

Australian composer Mick Gordon is highly respected for his experimental and creative approach to songwriting.

For the 2013 game Killer Instinct, he used a kangling, a traditional Tibetan instrument usually carved from a human femur or tibia, to create the theme music for the skeletal character Spinal using real bones. Also for 2016's Doom, he famously sampled the sound of a real chainsaw to play unique guitar riffs; The riffs that turned the soundtrack into a heavy metal masterpiece.

However, when asked if he's ever considered using any form of generative AI in his creative process, Gordon responded bluntly. To quote the late singer Meatloaf: Gordon will do anything to make a great soundtrack, but he won't do it (using artificial intelligence).

During an interview with IGN Media at PAX Australia 2026, Gordon said:

Gordon's next work can be heard in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, which will be released on October 14; Because he's created another smashing and breathtaking piece to fight the final boss of this first-person shooter. He's also hard at work on Defect's soundtrack; A team-based shooter with a cyberpunk theme, developed by a studio consisting of veteran developers of the Doom and Call of Duty series. Fans can rest assured that in both cases, Gordon's music flows straight from the mind (and fingers) of the metal-loving master, rather than the result of a prompt on ChatGPT.

Gordon explained about this:

Generative AI will always be one step behind where humans are because it is inherently trained using things that humans have already created. The technology builds a large database of what it's been trained with, and then based on that data set, comes to a highly logical conclusion. However, it will always be limited to its own data. AI will never be in a position to predict the next event, new phenomenon, or anything the human mind can create. This technology will always lag behind humans simply because of the nature of how it works.

Gordon remains optimistic that audiences will always gravitate toward works created by other humans rather than those created by machines. He said:

Humans always want to interact with other humans. always And I feel like these AI issues just give people more reasons to distance themselves from this digital infection that we're dealing with in our lives right now.

I feel that humans will always seek the same human connection.