A professional video game designer and artist revealed major game studios have begun to implement AI art bans reportedly due to possible legal issues with copyright laws.Artist Trent Kaniuga (@TrentKaniuga), who has worked for several major game developers such as Riot Games, Activision Blizzard and Capcom, claimed a number of major companies have banned the use of AI art after clients specifically requested its exclusion from projects. "AI art is now BANNED by many major game dev studios due to 'possible legal copyright issues,'" Kaniuga explained. "Many old clients are amending contracts recently to end the use of AI art. This goes in line with what I'd predicted in several of my first videos on the subject."Related: Love Live! Superstar!! Character Has Been Stolen by an AI 'Waifu' Chat Bot

When asked for a source, Kaniuga revealed studios he worked with over the past decade sent addendums to his contracts that specifically prohibited the use of AI art for any outsourced projects, though he did not specifically list the companies that implemented the AI art ban. The artist admitted this might not stop companies from abusing AI art in the future but still believes the prohibition is encouraging news for other professional illustrators and aspiring artists looking to pursue a career in the industry.

The AI Art Controversy

AI art has been a widely debated topic in recent months, partly due to the growing popularity of several art "generators." While some users have expressed excitement regarding the potential of AI tools, critics have questioned the ethical and legal ramifications of the technology. Many users especially debated whether illustrations generated by an AI could even be considered art and how the tools themselves might infringe on copyrights established on respective works, considering how AI art tools are "trained" with data gathered without the original artist's approval.

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The United States Copyright Office previously released a statement regarding its policies for AI art, with the agency noting that current laws did not grant copyright protections to most AI-generated illustrations. The USCO claimed copyright protections can only be held by works that are "the product of human creativity," though it also claimed future laws might loosen standards and permit some AI art similar protections.

"Based on the Office's understanding of the generative AI technologies currently available, users do not exercise ultimate creative control over how such systems interpret prompts and generate material," the USCO explained. "Instead, these prompts function more like instructions to a commissioned artist -- they identify what the prompter wishes to have depicted, but the machine determines how those instructions are implemented in its output."

Source: Twitter