Gamers slam game developer for using AI instead of artists – here’s the reason why

NIGHTDIVE Studios, developer of the System Shock remake, recently released AI generated art on social media.

The image was supposed to be used to market the upcoming game, but received backlash from fans.

Nightdive Studios

This is the AI image the studio released.[/caption]

Many expressed their disappointment with the marketing gimmick as AI art is seen as a cheap alternative to hiring real artists.

People were particularly angry in this case as it goes completely against the message of the game.

The AI created image was posted to Twitter alongside the comment: “Look at you, hacker: a pathetic creature of meat and bone. 

“Your body, weak, fragile. How can you challenge a perfect machine?

“Imagine, how would my immortal body look like? Designed by an immortal machine for an immortal machine.”

Interested fans of the original also pointed out how low quality the art used in the image is.

The face is weirdly glitchy with lines crossing over the eyes and nose.

One person wrote: “Sacrificing artistic integrity for a marketing gimmick that if you look at it past a passing glance, looks like a mess.”

Despite the backlash, the studio has defended its decision to use AI instead of hiring a person for the job.

Over several tweets it wrote how the studio hoped the image would “start a conversation”, and that it will continue to use AI in the future.

The tweets read: “An AI using AI to imagine what AI would look like in a physical form; doesn’t get more meta than that… which was the entire point of starting the conversation

“But this was never about using AI to create artwork instead of using real people. 

“This was about using AI to imagine what AI imagines itself to look like

“We will use AI again to create other pieces (including artwork). We may well use AI in other areas too. 

“But this will never be at the expense of using skilled people or their creative talents.”

This news comes after the announcement that the console versions of System Shock have been indefinitely delayed.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.