As the debate around AI āartā continues to rage on sites like ArtStation, Twitter, and Reddit (and likely in the comments below this very article) itās already being used in commercial projects. Most recently, Justin Roiland of Squanch Games and Rick And Morty fame confirmed that his newest project, the comedic first-person shooter High on Life, used a machine-learning algorithm to create poster art and even a vocal performance.
So-called AI art has quickly become a hot topic among artists and creators online as itās become easier than ever to just type a few words and get back detailed (and sometimes even nice-looking) digital images. AI art isnāt really art as we commonly define it, as it wasnāt created by humans and is just a mess of digital bits and bobs ripped from existing imagesāoften without permission from the original artistsāthat are arranged in a way that sort of looks like how something a human artist might create. And in a world where itās harder than ever for artists to make a living, AI art has the potential to destroy a lot of lives, careers, and futures. In response, AI tech bros and their associated weirdos say, ālol okay boomer, keep up!ā Now the tech has been used in a video game andā¦Iām so tired of being tired of it all.
In an interview with Sky News, Justin Roiland confirmed that his studio Squanch Games used the AI art tool Midjourney AI during High on Lifeās production to add some āfinishing touchesā to the world. While not confirmed in the interview directly, folks on Reddit have spotted many posters in the game that appear to be created using AI art tools. (You can tell because they look as if the āpersonā who made them has no idea what a human being or printed words look like.)
āIt makes the world feel like a strange alternate universe of our world,ā explained Roiland to Sky News. āAnd we used it to come up with weird, funny ideas.ā
Roiland did say that most of the art in High on Life is hand-crafted by people. But it also sucks that we live in a timeline in which thatās even a thing you have to confirm; that the art in your game was made by people and not a text prompt. Further, lead designer Erich Meyr told Sky News that they used AI to prototype character voices, and that one āminorā role in the game actually remained voiced by AI.
āI donāt know what the future holds, but AI is going to be a tool that has the potential to make content creation incredibly accessible,ā Roiland continued. āI donāt know how many years away we are, but all you will need to be is somebody with some big ideas.ā
Ignoring that Roiland states that AI is used to come up with ideas and also is for people with ideas, Iām disappointed to see AI art so quickly infect video games. But Iām not surprised. The video game industry has long treated its artists like machines that can run for 14 hours a day for weeks at a time. And rarely do devs or artists get paid fairly. So itās a no-brainer that game studios and publishers will be some of the first to replace workers with algorithms and various āAIā-enabled tools as fast as possible.
Read More:Ā AI Creating āArtā Is An Ethical And Copyright Nightmare
Of course, some will jump into the comments to explain that AI art is actually great, people who create it using prompts are artists and automation is just a natural part of civilization and technology. And to those people, I say: āCome on, really? Come on.ā
Look, if we lived in a world in which universal basic incomes were common, medicine and food were free, and we had safety nets in place to make sure everyone can live a happy and healthy life, Iād be more okay with AI art and similar tools potentially replacing traditional careers and jobs. But thatās not the case. Until it is, more automation will lead to more people struggling to survive. The forward march of technology may be hard to stop but that doesnāt mean itās universally correct, ethically sound, or something we should just let happen. Even if you truly believe āAI-created artā is good, that still doesnāt mean we have to accept the immense toll it will take on actual living humans as our future.
