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Activision fired artists after using AI for Call of Duty game

On Jul 26, 2024 By The Hindu Bureau

Activision reportedly sold an AI-generated cosmetic for its latest Call of Duty game during late last year. An investigative report by Wired has revealed that the video game publisher approved the use of generative AI tools like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion for creating concept art early in 2023 and had started using OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 model to generate content from July last year.

While Activision reassured creators and artists that the AI tools wouldn’t be used to create game assets but just be used to make conceptual artwork, they went ahead and made the AI-generated cosmetic for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This was then put up for sale on Activision’s online store by December, 2023.

The items reportedly are a part of Yokai’s Wrath bundle and include a firearm blueprint, a player skin, a sticker, a calling card and a loading screen image which were put up for sale for 1,500 COD points or which amounts to around $15 or Rs. 1,255.

According to the report, Activision had also informed employees that the adoption of AI tools wouldn’t result in job losses. However, in January this year, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees from Activision Blizzard and Xbox. One of the teams among these included the 2D artists.

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The video games industry has taken to using AI technologies in developing games. In April this year, Microsoft was reportedly testing a dedicated AI chatbot for its Xbox platform while in November last year, Xbox said it had partnered with Inworld AI to build game development tools which can help developers create characters and generate scripts quickly.

The report warns against widespread loss of jobs in the sector as developments further.

Asad Qizilbash, the head of product at PlayStation Studios recently said that AI in video games was important for those who wanted a more personalised experience. While Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has said that AI was very useful in making video games better with more interactive and intelligent NPCs.

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