Navigating the Challenges of AI-Generated Art in Game Development

At Devcom, Judy Ehrentraut, Red Meat Games' creative content strategist, emphasized the significance of ethically training generative AI models and their potential applications in game development. Ehrentraut noted that AI is often misunderstood, being viewed as either a solution to all productivity issues or a gimmick. However, she believes that the true value of AI lies in its potential to be used in an ethical and responsible manner. Ehrentraut highlighted that AI can only learn from the data it is trained on, and that it lacks human intent and creativity. The use of generative AI tools, she argued, can create a distorted perception of art, as it can produce works in a matter of seconds without the time, effort, and collective intelligence that human artists bring to their craft. Ehrentraut warned that removing artists from the creative process can lead to a devaluation of their work and a lack of understanding of the creative process. She also discussed the controversy surrounding AI tools such as Midjourney and DALL-E, which have been accused of scraping artwork from the internet without permission. In contrast, Red Meat Games has opted to use Scenario, a tool that allows artists to input their own work and train an AI model, providing more control over the creative process. Ehrentraut believes that this approach is more ethical, as it enables artists to work in tandem with AI, rather than relying solely on the technology. By utilizing AI in a responsible and transparent manner, Ehrentraut argues that game developers can create a more symbiotic relationship between human and AI systems, ultimately leading to more innovative and engaging gaming experiences.