It's more important than ever to call out developers for egregious AI usage next year if we want videogames to remain interesting

God, I am growing so weary of AI. Glints of human creation chipped away at with "just a loading screen" here, or "just a couple voicelines" there. Flaws and oddities that aren't the result of a person's error, but a computer that doesn't understand what or why it's wrong in the first place.

This year, it feels like studios have been limit testing exactly what they can get away with. Whether they can save a few pennies by getting a computer to whip up a character portrait, or a quick musical sting, without us lot at home kicking up too much of a fuss. The worst part? I fear it's working, and it's only going to get more egregious if we continue to wave off its (currently) limited use.

I myself am not absolved of this dismissive behaviour. I'm part of the problem. I've played several demos over the last couple of years that sport generative AI for its capsule image—a necessary component to put your game up on the Steam store, but one that ultimately isn't all that important to the likes of you and me.

I bought and played several hours of Liar's Bar, a game that utilises AI voices for its characters. Something that, at the time, I had excused as a byproduct of a dirt-cheap asset flip. One which just happened to be the right amount of stupid fun for a quick late-night post-booze endeavour with your Discord pals. A game where posts asking for the developer to use real voice acting are met with comments such as "SJW behaviour" and "Seethe."

There's this strange downward spiral where people go from brushing off AI's inclusion to actively rallying against people who call out its use. I have to wonder if it's because people don't exactly vibe with having the things they enjoy criticised for something that they themselves, deep down, don't approve of.

Just look at how divisive Arc Raiders has been. I haven't played it myself, but it has taken over the lives of just about every person in my friendship group. It's a game that also utilises AI voices—built upon real voice actors and with their contractual consent so that Embark doesn't need "to have someone come in every time [it creates] a new item for the game." Something that, for the most part, people seem happy to deal with even when things sound a little janky as a result.

Get real

As Wes wrote earlier this year, the game is emblematic of how muddy the whole thing is. Sure, it's not generative AI in the broadest sense, but it ultimately still very much sets up the potential to put these actors out of a repeat gig. And as Wes put it, "Much of the unease around AI is also simply about it putting people out of their jobs."

I've made small jabs at Embark's methods among some of the bigger Arc Raider enjoyers in my friend group, and have been met with a bit of hostility in return. Calling these things out makes people uncomfortable and annoyed, and I get it. I don't like having the shit I enjoy called out for its issues, either.

But it's important. Embark has the money to get these voice actors back in the studio every few months to belt out a few lines, but it doesn't. Activision more than has the money to hire real artists for its calling cards in Call of Duty, but three game releases later and nothing has changed.

Like I said, developers have been picking and choosing its smallest, least integral pockets to stuff AI into. Like when you're a kid and you sneak one chocolate out of the box. People may not notice—and if they do, they probably don't care. It's one chocolate. But maybe, if nobody says anything, you can take a second chocolate. And a third. Before you know it, the box is empty.

Next year we have a very real chance of seeing the consequences of our permissiveness. Splash screens become background art, character designs, or even paid cosmetics. Developers pushing that boat out just a little bit more, grabbing just one more chocolate from the box in the hopes people continue to say nothing. Ultimately, it's our jobs to call this stuff out. Discuss it online, vote with your wallet, and demand better.

In a landscape where thousands of people are losing their jobs, I'm not exactly jonesing to see that number increasing in favour of stuff slapped together by a computer. Am I going to become incredibly annoying by huffing and puffing every time something that has and should be done by a human isn't? Yes, but I'd rather be that friend advocating for a human touch than someone who's only asking why it's this way when it's too late. Because if we're not careful, videogames are going to become very safe, very boring, and very unhuman.