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[Spyxos]

"Our way of making a living is suddenly destroyed. [...] I wish I could just shoot down these programs."
-an anonymous artist speaking on using AI programs for work

AI art is being used so much it's reportedly eliminated the need for artists at game developers in China. Per a new report from Rest of World, companies in the country are now relying on AI generators over human illustrators.


The use of AI generators such as Midjourney and DALL-E allegedly started in February, and since grown exponentially. Studios using this technology range from small indie developers to regional giants such as Tencent and NetEase, who use AI to create materials such as characters, locations, and promotional materials.

Indie developer Xiao Di admitted that he and other developers of his size have resorted to AI as a way to save money. Previously, they would outsource their art to a freelancer, but making characters and backdrops with AI has allowed them to reduce costs.

Per game industry recruiter Leo Li, illustrator jobs declined by nearly 70 percent in the last year, in part because of AI growth. "Bosses may be thinking they don’t need so many employees,” said Li.

Those who spoke to Rest of World said they're encouraged by their employers to use the generators as a way to increase productivity. Xu Yingying, who provides art at an indie studio in Chongqing, China, told the outlet that AI "is developing at a speed way beyond our imagination. Two people could potentially do the work that used to be done by 10."

AI has a foothold in art, but where does it end?​

Beyond art, AI is already making footholds in other departments of game development, such as writing, voice acting, and design.

Artists are often one of the first departments to get involved in a video game's production, and game artists in China told Rest of World their concerns about being replaced by AI technology.

It's a fear felt by artists across the entire creative field. Last year as the tech was becoming more commonplace, websites such as Kickstarter and ArtStation let AI-made art proliferate on their platforms.


https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/china-s-game-art-industry-reportedly-decimated-ai-art-use

 

[SeraphJan]

There is no way you could stop this

-------------

Edit: You could force the government making regulation all you want, then some third world country pick it up, suddenly they became more competitive than your nation

 

[Spyxos]

There is no way you could stop this

That is unfortunately true.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Yeah a lot of poorer countries are going to get wrecked by this, low level grunt work like this has been their stepping stone to true economic development and it is all about to go away. Call centers are going to be crushed too.

 

[LimanimaPT]

This is just the beggining...

 

[Killer8]

That's just "fully automated luxury communism" in action. Don't know why China are complaining.

 

[Knightime_X]

Think that's bad, just wait until AI is able to code by just talking to it.
Was chatting with GPT-4, and it said something very similar is already being researched.
Eventually we will have incredible (and obviously very bad) games made by those who can't draw or code to save their life.

 

[GHG]

The tools are available now, use your skills and embrace them or suffer the consequences.

If you're a legitimate artist then you should be able to leverage them to make higher quality work faster than someone who is not an artist and is merely jumping on the bandwagon.

 

[Spyxos]

Think that's bad, just wait until AI is able to code by just talking to it.
Was chatting with GPT-4, and it said something very similar is already being researched.
Eventually we will have incredible (and obviously very bad) games made by those who can't draw or code to save their life.

Plus this one. It already builds itself by itself. What do you need people for?

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

What a sad time to be alive.

 

[Crayon]

AI is going to be a disaster.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Yeah a lot of poorer countries are going to get wrecked by this, low level grunt work like this has been their stepping stone to true economic development and it is all about to go away. Call centers are going to be crushed too.

Call centers have not been a thing in developed countries for years now. GDPR + privacy laws + companies openly advertising they do not outsource customer care (yeah, it's a thing in France now).

 

[fermcr]

Can an AI eventually create a full blown AAA game?
ChatGPT already creates small games.

 

[semiconscious]

What a sad time to be alive.

yep. i've lived in better...

 

[protonion]

Is there a free to use NSFW AI generator?

Asking for a friend.

 

[HoodWinked]

but ya alot of these major studios were quietly outsourcing large chunks of their environmental art for pennies while loudly espousing how they're so progressive. now they can just do it all in house I guess.

AI is just going to be a full scale shitshow for humanity.

 

[GHG]

Plus this one. It already builds itself by itself. What do you need people for?

This is some skynet shit right here.

 

[Skyfox]

We have to jump on board. The only way to survive this wave is to surf it.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Outlaw its use then. It’s built off of mass analysis of copyrighted material.

 

[Fools idol]

wait until the world learns about AutoGPT and level 5 and 6.

There will be no work, the only way to stop the global economy collapsing is UBI.

 

[HoodWinked]

We have to jump on board. The only way to survive this wave is to surf it.

People make the argument that AI is a tool to improve productivity so people can use the AI to their benefit but the difference between AI and tools is that AI replaces the decision making part as well. So in that analogy, the AI isn't just the surfboard, its the wave, and the surfer on top.

Outlaw its use then. It’s built off of mass analysis of copyrighted material.

You can't, you can run these AI models locally with modest hardware. And outlawing it won't stop the rest of the world from advancing it.

 

[Holammer]

I have seen a few suspiciously well made Thumbnails on Youtube videos, turns out there are AI services specifically for it.
One of the most interesting uses of AI art I've seen is a guy called PlanktonnCD on Pixiv that trained a model with VanRipper's art (Helltaker) and that thing spits out virtually perfect art. Earrings and the occasional finger problem, but nothing I couldn't manually touch up in a few minutes if I wanted.

Can an AI eventually create a full blown AAA game?
ChatGPT already creates small games.

I mean, eventually 10-20 years maybe? Perhaps faster considering how AI went from "hur-dur computer draws ugly pictures" back in 2019 to slowly figuring out fingers and being able to explain a complex problem to you as if you were five years old.

 

[Ronin_7]

Yeah a lot of poorer countries are going to get wrecked by this, low level grunt work like this has been their stepping stone to true economic development and it is all about to go away. Call centers are going to be crushed too.

I was on a AWS meeting Last week and AI apparently will be used for loads of things by the developers (us) but we still need a human there, it's literally impossible not to.

 

[Skyfox]

People make the argument that AI is a tool to improve productivity so people can use the AI to their benefit but the difference between AI and tools is that AI replaces the decision making part as well. So in that analogy, the AI isn't just the surfboard, its the wave, and the surfer on top.


You can't, you can run these AI models locally with modest hardware. And outlawing it won't stop the rest of the world from advancing it.

All AI I have used works best with (intelligent) human guidance. So you'd have to show me a surfer because I havent seen it (even with the llama version that Google resesrcher said was alive). I've used autogpt too.

I definitely agree about the spread of local ai though.

 

[HoodWinked]

I have seen a few suspiciously well made Thumbnails on Youtube videos, turns out there are AI services specifically for it.
One of the most interesting uses of AI art I've seen is a guy called PlanktonnCD on Pixiv that trained a model with VanRipper's art (Helltaker) and that thing spits out virtually perfect art. Earrings and the occasional finger problem, but nothing I couldn't manually touch up in a few minutes if I wanted.


I mean, eventually 10-20 years maybe? Perhaps faster considering how AI went from "hur-dur computer draws ugly pictures" back in 2019 to slowly figuring out fingers and being able to explain a complex problem to you as if you were five years old.

It's already possible to fix AI "artifacts" by manipulating prompts, most people know that when generating content you give it an input of what you want, but there is also negative prompts and things like extra fingers or missing fingers is simply negated.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Per game industry recruiter Leo Li, illustrator jobs declined by nearly 70 percent in the last year, in part because of AI growth.

That's devastating. This article reads like a cyberpunk dystopia novel. What the fuck are we going to do?

 

[Bragr]

We have to jump on board. The only way to survive this wave is to surf it.

Jump on what? Right now its a toolset, in a few years, it wont need you anymore. You can hold on for a few years, but at some point you will fall off.

 

[vpance]

Bad news for the small artists, but games should conceivably become more creative again without being bottlenecked by basic art and asset production. Same goes for game AI, scripting, animation, etc.

 

[Skifi28]

Finally, heading towards that future where robots and AI do all the work while we sit back and reap the benefits. Right?

RIGHT?!?

 

[Bragr]

That's devastating. This article reads like a cyberpunk dystopia novel. What the fuck are we going to do?

Well, there is a backlash coming, the tech guys will keep saying this is a tool, but its really not, its a replacer.

Many are calling for a halt in ai development, but truth is that only legislative action can do anything here, but the politicians are completely out of touch and the openai guys dont give a shit if they are.

 

[Spyxos]

Well, there is a backlash coming, the tech guys will keep saying this is a tool, but its really not, its a replacer.

Many are calling for a halt in ai development, but truth is that only legislative action can do anything here, but the politicians are completely out of touch and the openai guys dont give a shit if they are.

Even if it works in one country. The others will not stand still and do nothing. This whole thing is unstoppable.

 

[Sakura]

Sounds great for indie devs, especially solo ones.
I don't think AI art is really at a place where it can replace so many jobs though. Generic backgrounds and stuff sure, but as soon as you try adding any complexity it does a pretty bad job.

 

[Bragr]

Even if it works in one country. The others will not stand still and do nothing. This whole thing is unstoppable.

The US was several years ahead of anyone until openai told everyone how they do it, now its gonna be a shitshow.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Outlaw its use then. It’s built off of mass analysis of copyrighted material.

Just to play devil’s advocate… isn’t that what most human artists do as well?

 

[MagiusNecros]

As AI improves companies don't really need to hire people for a job AI can do better and AI doesn't need to be paid. It'll be the same with voice replication as well to where it's so good you'll have no idea if the voice is real or not.

AI can be helpful but I imagine it will see more corrupt use in the future for exploitation.

I can easily see many customer service jobs being completely replaced by an Automated A.I. system. And given we do also have Holograms it wouldn't surprise me if we see that in a couple decades.

Cyberpunk kind of future might be heading our way.

 

[Braag]

This is honestly sad to see. Of course this will be inevitable and will only get worse until most of our jobs are replaced by robots and advanced AI.

 

[Swauny Jones]

we are so close to having all of humanity forced to be on Universal Based Income because of AI consuming 80% of the job market. The jobs that will be safe are the ones 90% would never want to do.

 

[Fuz]

Of course, when your designs all look the same...

 

[rofif]

Plus this one. It already builds itself by itself. What do you need people for?

lol people still believe tesla robot scam?!

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

cant wait for AI to remake old games.

going to be beautifully tarded.

 

[Spyxos]

lol people still believe tesla robot scam?!

If the others are already running parkour, I don't think it's unlikely that the Tesla bot can already do the little that has been shown.

 

[Represent.]

Terrible, government needs to step up and make rules. Ridiculous

 

[01011001]

If the others are already running parkour, I don't think it's unlikely that the Tesla bot can already do the little that has been shown.

except that Tesla always overpromises and underdelivers.

 

[Spyxos]

I am well aware of that.

 

[Trilobit]

That's devastating. This article reads like a cyberpunk dystopia novel. What the fuck are we going to do?

Enjoy your noodles.

 

[bender]

If the others are already running parkour, I don't think it's unlikely that the Tesla bot can already do the little that has been shown.

Seeing as it is Musk, there is all the reason in the world to doubt it. Boston Dynamics is the real deal though.

 

[Portugeezer]

The point is not that it was inevitable, but how fast it happened. Seems like it started getting talked about only a year ago, and now people are losing certain jobs to it.

 

[bluecowboys]

Artist, voice actors, story writers, teachers, legal advisors, psychiatrists, military service members, etc are screwed.

You can’t ban AI or robots as mention by other users because other countries will adopt it and become more economically stronger.

How can you stay ahead of the curve you may ask? Simple, invest into these AI companies and prepare to be ruled by them

 

[Wildebeest]

I'm sure that people will reject AI art just like they did autotune music and pop songs tracks arranged on computer with metronome like beats and no soul to the performance.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

As long as this AI stuff can lead to good art and games, I'm all for it. No different than any other industry.

Think of it like ATMs and self check out kiosks at stores. I dont know when they first popped up, but at the beginning it was pretty weird for everyone (employees and users). But give it time and people accept it as long as it's good stuff. And they are so people support it. Why would I stand in a giant line with all the grannies doing stuff manually with staff when I can zoom past them using an empty self check out counter? I'm zooming.

If AI art turns out to be shit, then gamers will hate it and critics will dump on them in reviews. If it's good, hey three cheers for advances in tech.