Recently, in an interesting L compared to many of their successes, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was disqualified from the Indie Game Awards for their usage of Generative AI when creating placeholder textures for the game that were accidentally left in at launch. They were then subsequently patched out, but they still did exist at the game’s release so they count as being included in the game.
Now Clair Obscur being considered an indie game in general is an entirely different debate, but for this I’m torn on them being disqualified for this reason. Yes, games made with AI with no soul and no clear artisitc merit should be rightfully mocked and should not be considered for awards. However, for placeholder/concept textures I personally don’t see a massive issue for the usage of the system, as long as it was artists themselves using it. AI Generative Art, while generally terrible, is ultimately a tool and if you want to utilise it to help concept ideas and otherwise save time on non-artistic points of development then that is the purpose it should ultimately serve. AI Art and AI systems in general should be something that works alongside hard-working developers and artists, not replace them, and refusing to use a new piece of technology on principle is nice and all, but if you use it to help allow you to focus on more creatively fulfilling aspects of your work I don’t see the ultimate harm. Then again, slippery slopes and all that, so perhaps best to nip this in the bud now before it becomes a real problem.
What are your thoughts on this though? Do you feel as though this disqualification was warranted, and what are your thoughts on AI Art during game development? Let me know in the comments below. That’s all for now, and as always. It’s not just a game, It’s a Life.