Fortnite players claim to have spotted AI art in the latest Chapter of Fortnite.
Fortnite Chapter 7 launched over the weekend, following a massive live event to cap off the year-long stream of content from Chapter 6, featuring the likes of Godzilla, the Bride from Kill Bill, and Hatsune Miku. However, this new Chapter of content has not debuted without controversy. Players are now revolting over what appears to be AI-generated art featured in the game’s battle pass and in-game textures.
Discussion over Chapter 7's new changes turned heated over the weekend, after an in-game poster of a yeti lying in a hammock began to circulate online. The yeti appears to have five toes on one foot and four toes on the other, leading players to speculate that the image was AI-generated on the whole.
Is Fortnite Chapter 7 using AI-generated art?
Fortnite Chapter 7 kicked off with a swathe of new content, including a new battle pass filled with collab items from Back to the Future and Kill Bill. Unfortunately, the battle pass might not be safe from AI-generated accusations. Players have also spotted an anime-like spray depicting Marty McFly from Back to the Future, ostensibly rendered using the same Studio Ghibli-like artstyle that dominated the internet earlier this year.
Additionally, players have also called out the new Icon Series emote Latata for being based on an AI-generated song. The biggest offender here is an in-game poster of a yeti on a hammock, which also seems to be AI-generated. A thread posted on the Fortnite: Battle Royale subreddit highlighted the art, kicking off widespread protests against its inclusion in the comments.
The top comment from user Miserable_P now reads: “This is how it starts, AI album art, AI music, in-game posters. These are all cost cutting formulas used by companies so they can lay off employees and take all the profits. When AI takes over and the people are jobless, who will buy the products?”
Some also pointed out Epic Games’ CEO Tim Sweeney’s recent comments over the inevitability of AI being used in “nearly all production” in video games, as a sign that the developer is warming up to including AI-generated art in Fortnite. When responding to a social media post, Sweeney agreed that storefronts like Steam should drop the “Made with AI label,” saying:
“The AI tag is relevant to art exhibits for authorship disclosure, and to digital content licensing marketplaces where buyers need to understand the rights situation. It makes no sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in nearly all future production."
Regardless of Epic’s intentions in including the ostensible AI-generated art in Chapter 7, it’s clear that fans aren’t having it. Epic Games has yet to make a statement on the matter.
