Insomniac recently found itself in a bit of hot water due to a glitch in Marvel's Wolverine that was perceived as evidence of generative AI. The asset in question was a bathroom sign that's since been patched, and Insomniac has explicitly stated that the graphic is not AI-generated, but that its unusual appearance resulted from a rendering error.
I'm inclined to believe Insomniac in this case. Unfortunately, running into generative AI is becoming more and more commonplace in this line of work, so I've grown fairly accustomed to what janky, low-effort AI-generated assets look like: they don't really look like the bathroom sign in Marvel's Wolverine. According to Insomniac, the strange-looking bathroom sign stems from an issue with a "UV map," which controls how 2D textures interact with 3D objects in-game—this makes sense. But unfortunately, this particular instance doesn't actually matter that much in the grander scheme of AI panic and mistrust, and things are only going to get worse from here.
Generative AI has grown so indistinguishable from "the real deal" that it often takes a keen, practiced eye to spot it. Even then, the gap between, say, a real photograph and an AI-generated one, is growing smaller and smaller by the day. This is just as true for generative AI in video games as in any other medium.
چوونەژوورەوە
بۆ ئەوەی ئیدیعای شوێنی خۆت بکەیت لەسەر لیدەربۆرد!
چوونەژوورەوە
بۆ ئەوەی ئیدیعای شوێنی خۆت بکەیت لەسەر لیدەربۆرد!
Insomniac is probably telling the truth about the sign asset not being AI-generated, but there's no way for anyone to be sure about that, which should be a lot more concerning than whatever may or may not have been included in Wolverine. Remember, Marvel's Wolverine is one of the biggest, most high-profile AAA games of the year: it's under intense scrutiny from a significant chunk of the gaming community, and even beyond. Smaller or more niche titles could most definitely "get away" with gen-AI assets, especially ones as small as a bathroom sign.
In this sort of situation, a theoretical developer could deny AI usage following fan backlash, but the overwhelming majority of gamers lack the time, inclination, and tools to actually verify such claims. Even experts are losing their grip on what's AI-generated and what isn't, as AI generation gets more realistic and integrated into more minute, granular steps in a company's workflow. In short, AI-generated assets are getting harder to distinguish from actual, normal-looking ones, let alone visual glitches or other oddities; not every AI-generated asset is going to stand out.
This isn't just a hypothetical: games with significant AI generation are already commonplace on digital storefronts. They just haven't quite broken through the mainstream membrane.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/marvels-wolverine-ai-controversy-glitch-generative-ai-gaming/
