Chaosium rejects AI art, promises it won’t be in any games

The subject of artificial intelligence art has become a hot topic lately. While I can see potential for the technology myself, it is being used for many terrible reasons. This has led to many artists (especially smaller, independent artists) becoming very vocal in opposing it. Over the weekend, Chaosium, the company that releases great games like Call of Cthulhu, made an official statement on the art. I’ll include the full statement below, but in short, the company has announced that it will not allow any AI art to be used in its projects. They also mention how there’s a good chance courts in the US will likely hear cases involving the technology, and at least some EU members will soon adopt laws on AI programs. I think they are right in practical matters and I also agree that we need to make sure we support the artists.

Art is important to Chaosium and our artists deserve a lot of credit for our accomplishments over the past few years.

We are updating our art contract templates to include the provision that AI art programs must not be used: the work must be the product of a human artist who can guarantee that he created the work and that it does NOT contain a derivative use someone else’s work unlicensed.

We are concerned about the ethics of AI art and its impact on artists’ livelihoods and artists’ ability to maintain control over the use of their creations.

And on a more pragmatic level, we also believe there is a significant chance that US courts will, before long, find AI art infringes the copyright of artists, most likely thousands of artists. There’s also the possibility that the European Union – or at least some significant EU members – will pass legislation effectively banning the webscraping artificial intelligence programs that now exist.

So in short, if you’re making art for us, don’t use AI.

The next time you pick up a Chaosium game, you can be sure that all art is the product of a human artist who is passionate about our games and the worlds we create, rather than a set of computer algorithms and instructions.