Cyan Worlds Defends Presence of "AI Assisted Content" in Firmament

[T0@st]

As many of you have seen or noticed, our credits in Firmament mention "AI Assisted Content". This has been present in the credits for Firmament since release day, and we have never hidden this information: "The contents listed as "AI Assisted" in the credits are "Journals, logs, checklists, newspapers, stories, songs, poems, letters, loosely scattered papers; all backer portraits; all founders portraits; the "sunset" paintings; the art-nouveau wallpaper in the Swan dormitory hallways; propaganda banners; coastal spill decal kit; all voiced mentor, announcer, founder, and other speeches; backer-exclusive content."

"AI Assisted" does not mean wholly AI-generated. Unfortunately, there have been articles published recently which have implied (especially in their headlines) that Cyan generated much of Firmament using AI tools. This is categorically false and misleading, and we are disappointed and frustrated to see this happening. Some folks may be concerned about our usage of AI, so in the interest of clarification: The voice performances in Firmament were voiced 100% of the time by a talented member of our development team who elected not to be credited by name. Their voice was simply modulated for the final product with one of these tools (and with their full permission and control). This same member of the development team has elected not to be credited in prior games of ours as well, for privacy concerns, and not anything to do with tools usage in our games.




Additionally, our narrative team elected to use AI writing tools to ideate and experiment with how information they wrote themselves is presented in the game. The artists who used AI tools to assist in the creation of assets (itemized above, as well as in the credits) used them solely to ideate on texture assets for very specific scenarios. Other than the small handful of textural assets described, no AI tools were used in any aspect of Cyan's world-building or art creation efforts.

Cyan has a talented team of individuals (all human beings) with a breadth of skills and experience who have been working on this game for over 4 years, from scratch. We are disappointed to see their contributions minimized and overshadowed by egregious speculation about our usage of AI tools. Although individuals on the team did leverage AI tools to help with the development of the contents listed above, absolutely nothing in this small fraction of content for the game was generated and used outright from these services without extensive human oversight and revision.

For those who are disappointed in our use of these tools, we hope you have a better picture now of how we used them to assist with Firmament's development. To our disappointed Kickstarter backers, we hope you understand that none of these tools even existed when we Kickstarted the development of the project, but understand why you may be disappointed that we did not disclose our usage of them in the last year. These tools land in a gray area for many, but we hope that some accurate context (instead of a spicy headline) helps clarify this for you.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Verpal]

Honestly I don't see the problem even if entirety of the game itself is AI generated, let alone partially AI assisted.

There will be people buying ''game as an art form'' and there will be people buying another game with default unity asset, and there will be people buying a good enough AI generated game that cost less but maybe 70% as fun as a hand made one in the future.

Whatever feeds the endless hunger of consumerism I guess.

 

[Marcus L]

Whaddya know, people getting offended on the internet over nothing, who'd have thought, ridiculous they even had to make a statement about it I think

 

[LabRat 891]

It's begun

 

[lemonadesoda]

Performance Rights: legally problematic in some territories. Much easier to say Actors and Voices are AI based, and actual content performers are not credited, meaning no payments needed in the future; content and recordings can be constantly reused, recycled, reperformed, remashed, without the "original actors" having to be credited and compensated.

 

[Prima.Vera]

I have high hopes for this games. Literally been decades since we had a quality art fantasy game.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Whaddya know, people getting offended on the internet over nothing, who'd have thought, ridiculous they even had to make a statement about it I think

You seem to be missing a point that is not very subtle. The reason PEOPLE are getting upset is that we don't want OUR jobs being taken over by AI. As a civilization, we are dangerously close to economic collapse and AI is a very power tool that has the potential to make things A LOT worse.

Therefore, we have to be VERY careful how we use AI and how much we allow it to be used.

 

[Tahagomizer]

You seem to be missing a point that is not very subtle. The reason PEOPLE are getting upset is that we don't want OUR jobs being taken over by AI. As a civilization, we are dangerously close to economic collapse and AI is a very power tool that has the potential to make things A LOT worse.

Therefore, we have to be VERY careful how we use AI and how much we allow it to be used.

This really reeks of Luddites and general fear of machines "taking our jobs" in the XIX century. As a civilization, "we" are always dangerously close to global war and mass extinction, notably for reasons "we" brought on ourselves to satisfy greed and primitive instincts. Also worth noting is the fact that "we" brought extinction to a lot of wildlife and seem to be absolutely fine with that. You reap what you sow as they say.
I wonder how much ignorant fear there will be when actual AI comes, if just generative neural networks can cause people to soil their underwear...
tl;dr:
In the post-Luddite times some people had to learn doing things differently, using new tools. Nowadays it will be exactly the same, learn prompt engineering to be relevant in ten years.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

This really reeks of Luddites and general fear of machines "taking our jobs" in the XIX century. As a civilization, "we" are always dangerously close to global war and mass extinction, notably for reasons "we" brought on ourselves to satisfy greed and primitive instincts. Also worth noting is the fact that "we" brought extinction to a lot of wildlife and seem to be absolutely fine with that. You reap what you sow as they say.
I wonder how much ignorant fear there will be when actual AI comes, if just generative neural networks can cause people to soil their underwear...
tl;dr:
In the post-Luddite times some people had to learn doing things differently, using new tools. Nowadays it will be exactly the same, learn prompt engineering to be relevant in ten years.

I hear you, but this time around it feels different. In the past, and broadly speaking, automation and more advanced tools tended to eliminate dangerous or menial tasks. Stuff people had to do, not necessarily wanted to do. With AI-generated art, writing and performance, the tools are muscling into creative territory. Professions that people aspire to and wish to make careers of. Creation is often claimed as one of the most important aspects of humanity, and AI tools have a very real chance of devaluing that further than it has been already.

 

[eidairaman1]

You seem to be missing a point that is not very subtle. The reason PEOPLE are getting upset is that we don't want OUR jobs being taken over by AI. As a civilization, we are dangerously close to economic collapse and AI is a very power tool that has the potential to make things A LOT worse.

Therefore, we have to be VERY careful how we use AI and how much we allow it to be used.

Skynet anyone?

 

[Tahagomizer]

I hear you, but this time around it feels different. In the past, and broadly speaking, automation and more advanced tools tended to eliminate dangerous or menial tasks. Stuff people had to do, not necessarily wanted to do. With AI-generated art, writing and performance, the tools are muscling into creative territory. Professions that people aspire to and wish to make careers of. Creation is often claimed as one of the most important aspects of humanity, and AI tools have a very real chance of devaluing that further than it has been already.

Actually, that wasn't the case at all. Automation took over jobs to increase productivity and maximize profits, I can't think of a single instance when automation was solely aimed at making people's lives easier. Even if there were such claims, somehow they always aligned with financial interest of the investor. One of my ancestors was a very skilled embroider who loved her job but lost it to cheap automation.

What I believe to be the most important, and often overlooked, aspects is that there is no AI. These are merely machine learning algorithms and the only intelligence behind them is corporate greed racing to the bottom in terms of cost. It's not "AI taking over our jobs", it's "greedy corporations use machine learning because it's cheaper than hiring humans".

 

[lexluthermiester]

This really reeks of Luddites and general fear of machines "taking our jobs" in the XIX century.

Are you kidding? You don't know ANYTHING about me. Way generalize there bub.

Skynet anyone?

We can joke... but as crazy as that sounds, how far away might we be? It's a very real concern that only half-wits(not implying you) would dismiss.

I hear you, but this time around it feels different. In the past, and broadly speaking, automation and more advanced tools tended to eliminate dangerous or menial tasks. Stuff people had to do, not necessarily wanted to do. With AI-generated art, writing and performance, the tools are muscling into creative territory. Professions that people aspire to and wish to make careers of. Creation is often claimed as one of the most important aspects of humanity, and AI tools have a very real chance of devaluing that further than it has been already.

Exactly. This is not the argument of old with fears of machines taking away jobs, this is very real and tangible threat to the very nature of what make us human. And it is NOT trivial.

 

[tpa-pr]

Are you kidding? You don't know ANYTHING about me. Way generalize there bub.


We can joke... but as crazy as that sounds, how far away might we be? It's a very real concern that only half-wits(not implying you) would dismiss.


Exactly. This is not the argument of old with fears of machines taking away jobs, this is very real and tangible threat to the very nature of what make us human. And it is NOT trivial.

I think we are still far from AI sentience and because of that, a Skynet situation. I do think we are waist deep in the "humans mis-using AI/ML" period (and steadily sinking mind you) and I'm quite unhappy with it.

The problem of AI/ML and it's mis-use is extremely complicated but from my perspective, the current trend is a "dumbing down" or even loss of human creativity and ingenuity. We have people farming out their careers and hobbies to the machine and it is causing a degenerative effect because of that. I work with a pair of IT techs who have spent the last year with a ChatGPT window permanently open on their workstations. They've learnt nothing, they've made mistakes because they've taken the word of the machine as gospel and their knowledge and skills have essentially stagnated. Compare that to the junior engineers I have under my mentorship (who I have politely but firmly asked to not use ChatGPT) and they are learning how to research, think outside the box and problem solve.

I don't want this trend to continue or deepen. Modern society has already traded a lot away for convenience (and because of laziness) and it's ended up worse for it. And that's entirely putting aside the dearth of ethical and moral questions around AI/ML too.

 

[Vayra86]

It's begun

More like the saga continues

 

[LabRat 891]

More like the saga continues

Fair. But this is AI/MI 'controversy' finally making into the (entertainment) mainstream.

Also, from my PoV:
I've been day dreaming about AI/MI-assisted video games since before "Machine Intelligence" became common parlance.
This year, I knew I'd start seeing what I'd dreamed of, even if it ends up a nightmare...

IMHO: Next up, are 'custom re-makes' (entirely made by a single-few coder/programming know-nothings, using AI/MI tools).
Should circumstances allow, the entire video game market is about to get shaken the F up.

 

[Tahagomizer]

Are you kidding? You don't know ANYTHING about me. Way generalize there bub.

Neither do I care to know anything about you. You continue to fail in providing an actual, reasonable argument to the discussion, it's all fear mongering and vague threats to "our nature", so pointless generalization seems to be a problem on your end. Well, my nature is facts, so how exactly is your nature being threatened by computers? I mentioned my ancestor, an embroider, who I know loved her job and most likely considered it a part of her psyche. She lost to automation, was fired and probably felt like her world is ending. However, the world moved on, humanity still exists and she made an arguably much better life for herself by getting proper education and becoming an accountant.
Please explain to me how is machine learning threatening to destroy humanity more than, say, industrial weaving machines were?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Neither do I care to know anything about you.

I'm going to say to you the same thing I tell all the other flame-baiting trolls who come here: Get knotted.

 

[the54thvoid]

Let's keep things civil. After all, isn't that what humanity is best meant to represent?

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Actually, that wasn't the case at all. Automation took over jobs to increase productivity and maximize profits, I can't think of a single instance when automation was solely aimed at making people's lives easier. Even if there were such claims, somehow they always aligned with financial interest of the investor. One of my ancestors was a very skilled embroider who loved her job but lost it to cheap automation.

The intent is not at issue here, but the effect. Dozens of laborers with hand implements gave way to a single industrial excavator. That was not done out of concern for the ditch diggers, but nonetheless obviated thousands of hours of human toil. There's still quite a bit of manual labor in construction, but not near the amount as in the past. There are plenty of human hands still involved in manufacturing, but the more repetitive or hazardous a task becomes, the more likely it is to be automated out. Yes, this is ultimately and primarily done for cost reasons, but it still takes danger and/or drudgery off a person's plate.

What I believe to be the most important, and often overlooked, aspects is that there is no AI. These are merely machine learning algorithms and the only intelligence behind them is corporate greed racing to the bottom in terms of cost. It's not "AI taking over our jobs", it's "greedy corporations use machine learning because it's cheaper than hiring humans".

That's closer to irrelevant than important. We know that AI really means ML and generative algorithms. Getting hung up on semantics doesn't change the core of the argument. You can sub ML for AI across the entire discussion to no significant effect.

Something else to consider: "It's always worked out so far," does not necessarily mean, "It'll always work out in the future."

 

[lexluthermiester]

Let's keep things civil. After all, isn't that what humanity is best meant to represent?

Right, sorry.

 

[Tahagomizer]

That's closer to irrelevant than important. We know that AI really means ML and generative algorithms. Getting hung up on semantics doesn't change the core of the argument. You can sub ML for AI across the entire discussion to no significant effect.

Something else to consider: "It's always worked out so far," does not necessarily mean, "It'll always work out in the future."

I beg to differ, semantics are, in fact, important. AI, the "intelligence" part, may imply malicious intent of the tool, which would change the scene dramatically. Someone said "humanity will be destroyed when robotic vacuum cleaners learn that most domestic dust comes from humans". For now malicious intent is only characteristic for humans, so the whole discussion is largely irrelevant. Humans will go to great lengths in order to kill each other or at least make each other's life harder for whatever made-up reason they can come up with, so calling for "responsibility" by one group only means that others will get ahead. One has to look no further than at nuclear proliferation during and after the cold war to see a blueprint for what will happen.
I ask for the same i asked from @lexluthermiester , which obviously scared him enough to revert to a childish state of name-calling: Arguments please? How does creating a tool which can make better graphics, music, films and such differ from creation of tools which could create better fabrics, including ones which were previously considered a form of artistic, or even religious, expression?
When actual AI comes the situation will change owing to the fact it will be much better at everything than humans are, but that's not for another decade or so, let the young ones worry about that.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I ask for the same i asked from @lexluthermiester , which obviously scared him enough to revert to a childish state of name-calling

Loose the personal jabs or the mods will be asked to show you out. Given that they have already issued a warning, you might want to stop.

How does creating a tool which can make better graphics, music, films and such differ from creation of tools which could create better fabrics, including ones which were previously considered a form of artistic, or even religious, expression?

You effectively just answered your own question. If you can not see the obvious staring you in the face, YOU have the problem.

When actual AI comes the situation will change owing to the fact it will be much better at everything than humans are, but that's not for another decade or so, let the young ones worry about that.

Incorrect, it's here now to a degree and truly intelligent AI is but a hop, skip and a jump away. There are server arrays in operation now that have near human intelligence levels. This is why we need to set in place controls and regulations to assure they we humans will be and remain in control.

 

[R-T-B]

Skynet anyone?

Last on my worry list right now. It might be in the future but right now Job Replacement and asset theft is number one.

 

[lemonadesoda]

Colossus: "THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM"