He's pretty clearly talking about using it "directly"-- as in, using prompts within a specific AI environment to create an AI-generated product of one kind or another. You know, like the thing you're doing directly, specifically, with your game.
So he's correct when he says both that he's not using it "directly" and also that he's sure it has some influence on his life, because it does, for all of the reasons and uses you listed, and many more.