The Concerning Trend of AI in Gaming [Fragpunk]

Let me start by saying I had no interest in Fragpunk. Its got style for days, but I hold no stake in the game's current community. It didn't look like a game I would enjoy. Regardless, I'm frustrated to see Fragpunk caught using AI. It's always disheartening to learn AI art was used in paid products. I don't like the trend we're starting to see unearth itself in modern game development. It's an absolute culture L.

The Deets

If you hadn't heard about it yet, they outed themselves. They posted some art with a character that only had four fingers. Now a chunk of the players are furious. Could it have been an honest mistake? Possibly. Unlikely, though. Artists making models of this quality are not likely to forget a finger. The likely scenario is that the devs are serving that missing middle finger to their fan-base.

The irony of using AI to generate cheap art only to turn around and sell it as if it wasn't AI-generated is not lost on me. The real chuckle here is how every piece of art is going to go under scrutiny. Was it in all their artwork? What else did they use AI on? It's going to be very difficult for Bad Guitar Studio to explain this away.

Are these tasteful flairs of colorful pixels meant to imbue an artistic, cartoony style, or are they covering up more AI-generated fumbles?

Maybe as an apology they'll come out with with an extra asset pack you can spend money on. Jokes aside, this isn't just some "oopsie" thing that we should be closing our eyes to. We should be furious. The people spending money on this game should be raging. The fact that users rallied to the Steam page to leave positive reviews after being deceived is puzzling.

It is entirely a dishonest practice for a studio to price the game and assets as if they're being made by their artists, but the art is actually being made easier than that. The worst part is the denial and silence of game companies when they're caught. AI-Generated games should ALWAYS be listed as such. AI-Generated images should always be announced as such at the release of the artwork. This isn't rocket science. If you didn't craft the artwork yourself and you're making a profit, you should give credit where it's due.

Other Recent Offenders Driving the Trend

Unfortunately, this isn't the first instance of a company using AI in gaming to generate artwork or asset-packs. We've seen a handful of content using AI for products intending to be paid for. After a brow-beating that spanned months, Call of Duty finally admit it used AI (link). It's not just for some random advertisement in the wild. They're using it for their in-game assets.

I think the worst part about Activision's reluctance to admit their use of AI-Generated content in COD is that they only admit it once Steam forced them to. If this isn't put in check, we're going to be buying games that aren't even made by the incredible artists that forged this industry. We'll be completely unaware.

Guitar Hero, another Activision baby, made the cursed decision to use AI images in it's great reveal as well (link). They didn't even try to disguise that one. They straight-up admit they intended to use AI for the game calling it "unlimited potential". You have the unlimited potential of hiring artists, genius. The only unlimited potential they're thinking about is the millions of dollars they could make if they don't have to pay for artist experience.

Activision is on a role, because another project was "floated by" using AI (link) . Crash Bandicoot, a timeless retro game, was brought before the masses in a low-effort attempt to "gauge interest". They're easily blurring the lines of concept-art as if it's something normal.

Even Marvel was caught using AI recently. I won't entertain the fact that it could have been an accident. They denied the use of AI for their images, but nobody is fooled. Marvel is a widely successful corporation that has profited largely off of its fan-base. They can afford to staff their design department to avoid errors like this. They can afford to hire artists to give their entertainment the treatment it deserves. The greediness of a company like Marvel using AI to replace the work of artists is just next-level cringe to me.

The Problems With AI

One major problem is that AI could be abused to trick users into buying a game that looks nothing like the game you're actually getting. At least concept-art actually looks like a vague, fuzzy idea. Trying to pass off AI-generated artwork as concept-art is as cursed as it gets.

Speaking of not getting what you're buying. Anyone remember the use of AI to create a Willy Wonka experience (link)? Then it turned out to look like Walter White's basement. They were handing out small lemonade cups and three jellybeans to each kid. It was a misleading marketing campaign nightmare. It was false advertisement at its finest. I don't even know how it ended.

Let's not forget about the ethical quandary of using AI art for profit when a lot of the art used to train these AI was stolen from artists. But it's important to remember that they didn't just steal the art, they stole years of experience and dedication to the craft. A creepy vein of support in AI-Generated art claims that AI democratizes art, making it accessible for all. The only people who are winning by this logic are companies who no longer have to pay artists.

Every creative industry you can think of is under siege by the use of AI. The artistry of creativity has been removed from the equation. Experience has been swallowed by the maws of corporations that will benefit from hiring nothing but button-pressers they can pay minimum-wage while raking in millions more than they already do. There will soon be a far slimmer path forward for creatives, and this will directly impact game development.

Do you feel that AI is a cultural L? Let me know in the comments.

See you next time, gamers.