The indie game community is in disarray over AI and Big Walk
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TL;DR
- Several IGF jurors have declared they will not vote for games using generative AI in any capacity.
- The developer of the indie game 'Big Walk' stated they used AI sparingly to help with technical challenges and bugs.
- These jurors believe generative AI has negative effects, including on AI-generated code.
- The use of AI in 'Big Walk' involved modifying AI-generated code snippets, estimated to be less than 0.1% of the game's code.
- The developer's primary use of AI was to research issues with third-party code, including fixing a shadow bug.
- The studio disclosed AI usage for the IGF submission but not on the Steam page, as the platform doesn't request such disclosure.
- The developer expressed concern that voluntary disclosures might normalize AI technology.
- They support efforts to limit the harm generative AI is causing and apologized if their usage doesn't meet certain standards.
- The developer admitted to lacking an AI policy during 'Big Walk' development and plans to implement one.
- IGF jurors emphasized their statement is not a call to boycott games but a discussion about what an award should represent in independent game development.