Generative AI has been the hot-topic in the tech industry for the last few years, and it doesn’t look like the fad is due to end anytime soon. Executives at big AAA game publishers see it as a way to cut labour costs, while the artists, designers, programmers – the people behind the games we love – see it as a threat to their livelihood.
A new report from WIRED now reveals how publishers like Riot, EA and Activision are already replacing jobs they’ve cut with generative AI, and forcing those who are left behind to use it.
The report includes comments from a number of developers, none of whom the report says wanted to use generative AI in the first place. It shows a picture of an executive branch that only sees the short-term cost-cutting advantages of generative AI models that can create concept art and assets that are “good enough,” disregarding whether or not it’s actually legal to be using these generative AI LLM’s in the final product.
It also alleges that Blizzard and Riot are two of the publishers currently working on building internal generative AI models for their own internal use. Whether or not what these models produce remain as ‘for internal-use only’ is the question.
Earlier this year PSU spoke to a couple of indie developers who were already voicing all the concerns listed in WIRED’s report. It’s continually disheartening to see that generative AI is only being adopted more and more by the biggest publishers in the game.
Source – [WIRED]