The controversy and debate surrounding the use of AI in games continues, with a development team member of Valve firing back following Epic CEO Tim Sweeney’s comments on AI-labeled games on Steam. The use of AI in gaming is something that has gotten both developers and gamers fired up, with arguments for and against its use not only in development, but on game stores like Valve’s Steam.
This latest chapter in the debate began when AI Lobbyist Matt Workman called for Steam and other platforms to stop using labels identifying games that utilize AI on store listings. This led to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney largely agreeing, claiming that it “makes no sense” for platforms like Steam to indicate the use of AI in game development. His argument was that due to so many games utilizing AI in development already, with the number likely increasing in the future, the label will soon hold no meaning. Epic Games notably has its own game distribution platform, which does not require games utilizing AI to be labeled as such, while services like Steam and Itch.io do.
Valve Dev Fires Back About AI
Now another voice is joining into the debate, with Valve artist Ayi Sanchez sharing their thoughts in response to the original tweet by Matt Workman that Sweeney was responding to. Sanchez compared the situation to not having ingredient labels on food, arguing that consumers should have the information they need to make mindful purchases. Sanchez added that the only ones who are afraid of the labeling “know their product is low effort.”
Workman responded to Sanchez, who said that things like food should be labeled because they can pose potential harm to consumers, whereas AI can’t pose a risk the same way. However, Sanchez responded in turn that it was a matter of ethics, suggesting that consumers should be able to know what kind of labor and materials went into products so they can make an educated choice.
Sanchez added that technology “relaying [sic] on cultural laundering, ip infringement and slopification” shouldn’t be excused, and that “creation is a matter of creators, not prompt engineers.” Finally, Sanchez claimed that educated consumers will pick originals over counterfeits.
It’s fairly understandable why game developers like Sanchez are on the defensive when it comes to the use of AI in game development. The game industry has been decimated by layoffs in recent years, and AI could potentially take away more jobs. While some in the industry have defended the use of AI and see it as a tool that could potentially help to speed up development or reduce costs, some of those who have had to use it have objected, like developers at EA who have been directed to use a GPT tool in their daily work.
There is some logic to the view that Workman and Sweeney expressed. With AI being used in more and more games, a simple label that states that it was utilized isn’t much help to consumers. However, some have argued that the answer isn’t to get rid of the label, but to introduce even more transparency, so players know exactly how it was used. The amount of AI in a game also seems to matter, with games like Black Ops 7 getting backlash for AI being used to create images for things like the game’s calling cards.
For now, there’s no clear answer to this debate. Even as generative AI is being used in more games, major AI services like ChatGPT are facing copyright lawsuits over the materials that were used to train the systems. However, as the debate continues and the result of these lawsuits are still unknown, Valve remains firm in its labeling of AI use in games.
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Valve
- Original Release Date
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September 12, 2003
- Original MSRP (USD)
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N/A
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N/A
