Call of Duty's Shitty AI Art Is Now Officially a Federal Problem
The "Ghibli-style" calling cards in Black Ops 7 were apparently so bad they've attracted the attention of the United States Congress.
Well, we've finally done it. We've managed to make our video game drama so stupid and so loud that the US government has been forced to look up from... whatever it is they do... and intervene. The culprit, this time, is the laughably obvious AI-generated "Ghibli-style" calling cards in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
Activision, of course, gave the standard non-answer. They admitted "some AI was used" but then fed us the usual PR line about how "the creative process is still in the hands of humans." Sure it is. It's just that the "human" is now a producer typing "Ghibli-style soldier, but sad" into a prompt box instead of hiring an artist.
Here Comes the Government
The backlash from players was so immediate that a US Congressman, Ro Khanna, has now waded into the debate. He reposted the news and came out swinging, saying "We need regulations that prevent companies from using AI to eliminate jobs to extract greater profits. Artists at these companies need to have a say in how AI is deployed."
He's not wrong. He even went on to share proposals about "tax reforms to discourage excessive automation," which sounds a hell of a lot better than just letting these megacorps fire their entire creative teams. Khanna was careful to add that he's not trying to ban AI, just make sure it... you know... "serves people." A novel concept, I know.
The Tip of the AI Iceberg
Let's be real: this Call of Duty thing is just the symptom. The disease is everywhere. This is the new corporate gold rush, and the "gold" is just "firing all the expensive humans."
PUBG's publisher, Krafton, just declared itself an "AI-first company," which is a horrifyingly bloodless way to announce you're about to lay people off. Square Enix, not to be outdone, has openly stated it plans to use AI to replace 70% of its QA testers by 2027. Seventy. Percent.
And then there's EA. They're telling employees to treat AI as a "thought partner." I've had "thought partners" before. They were called "co-workers," and they got paid for their "thoughts." This is just the C-suite finding a way to get the "thoughts" without having to pay for health insurance.
This Is Only Going to Get Uglier
So, here we are. The industry is in a full-blown race to automate its own creativity. The art is already suffering, and the artists are being shown the door.
It's a grim fucking picture. The only thing more depressing than watching studios gut their own talent is that the situation has gotten so bad that Congress has to step in. That's never a good sign.
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