Last week, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis became the next game to come with an AI disclaimer on its Steam page. This statement made it clear that AI was used in the game's development and that AI-generated assets were either “removed or modified by humans”.
Now there is a big difference between “removed” and “refined”. Removing them means they were a placeholder, while “refined” means we basically still have the AI in the game, it's just been tweaked by a human afterwards. Needless to say, many fans were not happy with this. And now they think they've found an example of AI art that's been edited by a human—in the cover of a steelbook edition.
Tomb Raider fans are looking for artificial intelligence in Legacy Of Atlantis
Right now, many fans believe that the Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis cover art was at least partially created using generative artificial intelligence. The evidence they point to is that the strap on Lara's backpack doesn't look quite right and seems to blend in with the rest of her. Such fumbles are often associated with AI-generated work.
Of course, this is all pure speculation, and it's possible that any perceived rendering errors are human-caused. But the fact that fans are looking for it just shows what happens when you use AI in game development; this makes fans fear that any part of the game could be AI.
With that said, game director Jeff Adams was eager to distance the game from this AI disclaimer. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at the Summer Game Fest, Adams says that the AI assets were only used for testing purposes during development, which is quite different from the AIs generating the hidden art.
“We might have an idea for an in-game object and we're not sure we want to spend developer time building it,” Adams says. “We can use a generative AI tool to visualize it in the world, and if it works, we'll move it into our traditional production process. Our team will design it, build it, and make sure all the finished content in the final game is human-made.”
Whether this is an accurate assessment of how the AI was used or just damage control remains to be seen. One thing we can say for sure, though, is that when the game releases on February 12, 2027, many will be on high alert for any AI-generated assets that have slipped through the cracks.
- Released
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February 12, 2027
- ESRB
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Teen / Blood, Violence
- Publishers
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Amazon Games
