Larian Studios (makers of Baldur’s Gate 3 and the Divinity series) faced backlash after news broke of them using generative AI to conceptualize and ideate. Similarly, the developers of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 were stripped of two Indie Game Awards for their use of AI generated placeholder textures. Video games lay at the intersection of art and technology, so it’s no wonder that the space is a flash point when it comes to using AI and disclosing its usage.
OSS has also been affected: Tailwind Labs had to lay off staff after their revenue dropped by more than 80% despite TailwindCSS being more popular than ever. Like artists, many developers are now considering how to protect their IP against AI companies — either through less permissive licenses or by limiting the availability of source code.
The difference in sentiment between the two communities is interesting. While artists are adamantly against generative AI, developers have mostly embraced the technology. I’m aware that approving of generative AI for coding but not for artwork is hypocritical, yet I still feel repulsed by AI slop art while simultaneously enjoying coding agents like Claude Code or Codex.
On Steam1, developers must submit an AI disclosure form alongside their software. From their blog:
Any kind of content (art/code/sound/etc) created with the help of AI tools during development. Under the Steam Distribution Agreement, you promise Valve that your game will not include illegal or infringing content, and that your game will be consistent with your marketing materials.
This policy is clear that any usage of AI must be disclosed. The issue is that it remains up to the developers to disclose AI usage, and there’s no way to enforce compliance. You might be able to spot AI art, but the code is mostly hidden.
From Linus Torvald on AI disclosure:
There is zero point in talking about AI slop. That’s just plain stupid.
Why? Because the AI slop people aren’t going to document their patches as such. That’s such an obvious truism that I don’t understand why anybody even brings up AI slop.
So stop this idiocy.
The documentation is for good actors, and pretending anything else is pointless posturing.
Footnotes
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Valve updated their policy on AI disclosure on January 17. It clarifies that “efficiency gains through the use of AI-powered dev tools no longer require disclosure.” ↩