Emerging technologies, and our use cases 

New emerging technologies allowed us to conceptualise early designs faster; the use of generative AI is still controversial among creatives, but we see it as a tool that can also be used for inspiration- the quirks that AI has that cause nonsensical results are (ironically) the reason our project’s art style is defined within the early stage, it helped us inspire the environments. Having said that, we chose to use AI as sparingly as possible to express our artistic integrity as creatives. The end product is hand-crafted by us and is our intellectual property.

An artist’s perspective on AI use and ethical considerations

Nowadays, AI can do practically everything. From art, music, voice acting, writing, and animation to even therapy (on a serious note, do seek professional help if you need it) — any creative or technical job you can think of has a chance to be replaced by AI in the future. A human-made artwork is not just an artwork; it’s an accumulation of an artist’s years of practice, dedication and failures so I understand how frustrating it can be to see all that effort being fed into a machine to create instant and free artwork for virtually anyone. But don’t worry, not all hope is lost.

There’s no doubt that AI will become the norm of our future, however, as long as we’re human, it can never take away our humanity. AI can never replicate the human enjoyment and emotions of learning and improving their skills in their art-making process. On a more positive note, I personally believe that AI-generated images are helpful tools that can be used to reduce burnout, overworking,  art block and speed up the art-making process, especially for those who make art as a source of income. Let’s be honest, when art becomes your job, there will be times when you temporarily lose enjoyment from it. 

Of course, you may be worried about AI destroying our creativity but remember, machines can never surpass the extent of human imagination — if there’s no initial human prompt, it cannot create. Using AI cuts a lot of labour costs too, so I don’t blame indie developers and individual business owners using it to make up for their skill gaps, because, after all, we still need the money to survive in this capitalist society. However, I personally believe that artists whose artworks have been involuntarily used in machine learning should be fairly compensated for their data. Additionally, I think there should be a legal requirement for anyone profiting from AI to clearly mention that the work has been machine-generated.

So to all creatives out there, or people who are at the risk of losing their jobs to AI, don’t let it stop you from doing what you love.