Oh, The Humanity: Generative AI Imagery in Game Design

Description:
Generative AI imagery is a tool that is increasingly available and used by a growing audience, including game designers. At the same time, the proliferation of generative AI imagery has met with very vocal and negative pushback from parts of the game design community. In this presentation, Ian Brown will discuss how he used AI imagery in his "#Maneuver_Warfare" card game; how its use specifically supports his game design philosophy; and considerations for why the issues on generative AI imagery are not so black-and-white as critics would suggest.
Biography:
Ian Brown is a retired Marine helicopter pilot, and currently works as a wargame analyst for a private company. He has run podcasts and written extensively (in both fiction and non-fiction formats) on professional military education, military history, future warfare, and yes, wargaming. The views he will present are his own and do not represent the views of any other company or entity with which he may be affiliated.

[@flatcirclehistory]

Well done. Having used AI only for voice-over narration, I know very little beyond dabbling with Mid-Journey and Dall-e. I can see the value of it for creating scenes where future tech models are needed but do not yet exist. That said, your description of audience reaction/implications of using AI imagery certainly gives me pause. This presentation was educational in dipping my toes in these complicated waters.

[@mastommastom7316]

Great point. I can see the value of property theft as well. It's more affordable than paying retailers and hey, small businesses have to innovate!

[@Eva-zv9ub]

Totally unconvinced by Ian's poorly framed justification for generative AI. What he actually demonstrates is the he doesn't see the value of collaborating with a visual artist and compensating them fairly for their work. Independent designers and small publishers have been doing this for ages, but Ian would rather take shortcuts and cut ethical corners. As usual, it boils down to money.

[@roycenlisa]

I'm poorly educated on this topic but I did hear in the video Ian state that he wanted to use this "disruptive tech" as the artistic basis for the game. That seems like a good justification to me. I do understand your point though and can't square the circle on it. I suppose that's why it's labeled as "disruptive".

[@RobotWrangler]

I disagree. Zero budget for a human (not a corporation) putting together a game can mean literally $0.00 Sure indie designers have collaborated with artists but the vast majority of those artists have received nothing or almost nothing for their extensive work as the game never made money. Those artists deserve a living wage, not a lottery ticket in return for hours and hours spent making 100+ carefully constructed card images. That possibility for a living wage doesn't exist here so it is a good case for an ethically created AI. The "don't use AI" option is really "don't do it unless you're rich enough to throw money at it" and only letting the rich make things is a terrible way to shape the world.