Ubisoft has acknowledged that some images in its recent release ‘Anno 117: Pax Romana’ are generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
One of these images, which depicts a scene from a Roman banquet, was criticized for its evident poor execution, including malformed faces and bodies, typical errors of AI-generated art.
The situation was first reported by a user on Reddit, who pointed out that, in addition to the image of the banquet, another depiction of Roman senators seems to be missing heads, suggesting that this is not an isolated case.
A totally unnecessary monumental mess
In response to the controversy, a spokesperson for Ubisoft stated that the image in question was a provisional asset that “inadvertently” went through the final review process of the game.
They promised that the final version of this image will be replaced in the 1.3 update of ‘Anno 117’, which is expected to arrive soon. Ubisoft has also indicated that, although they used AI tools for “iterations, prototyping, and exploration,” the final product reflects the skill and creativity of the development team.
This incident in ‘Anno 117’ is not unique in the video game industry. Other titles like ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’ have been criticized for the use of AI in the creation of game cards, and the developer Activision has acknowledged the implementation of similar technology. In addition, the game ‘Arc Raiders’ received criticism for using AI-generated voice readings.
The growing concern over these practices has even led Congressman Ro Khanna to advocate for regulation on the use of AI tools in video game production.
The controversy reflects an ongoing debate about the ethics and quality of art in video games, as AI plays an increasingly prominent role in the creative process.