Prime Matter, the publisher of the upcoming System Shock remake, has found itself in a bit of hot water after posting an AI-generated image of SHODAN, the series’ villain and quintessential evil AI. (Well, maybe tied with GLadOS.) While the concept in itself isn’t terrible – an AI painting an AI makes a kind of sense – the post has raised ethical concerns about AI being used in an official capacity and putting real artists out of work.
Interestingly, System Shock developer Nightdive has gone on record stating that the post was entirely the work of the publisher – I suppose if anyone would be wary about the potentially catastrophic power of AI, it’d be the people actively making a game about that very topic. Prime Matter has not backed down, pledging to keep using AI, but supposedly “never at the expense of using skilled people or their creative talents”.
Personally, I don’t believe that for a second. These tools may very well proliferate as more game companies realize they can use them to get around paying artists, but that just means people will have to keep calling them out. The System Shock remake comes out later this month – keep an eye out for any traces of ChatGPT in it.
