Podcast #256: Algorithmic AI Content Generation and RPGs

Egg Embry · Jul 8, 2023

This is an important conversation to have. Thanks for taking the time to talk about AI.

Emberashh · Jul 8, 2023

My 2 cents on the matter has always been that if the AI cannot function without the use of content its creators were not explicitly authorized to use, then it doesn't matter whether or not any of that data makes it back out onto an output. If those outputs are being commercialized, it's IP theft, plain and simple.

And thats without getting into the fact that AI's, unlike humans, can't improve upon their outputs in a vaccuum. An AI fed nothing but what they spit out will cannibalize itself into nonsense. A human has the capability to judge and improve their own creations independently of any other influence, and can in turn produce better pieces on subsequent attempts. Thats what sets actual art apart from the glorified stock imagery and lorem ipsums of AI.

But, beyond all that, AI as said is just glorified stock images and lorem ipsums. Good fodder to manipulate into actual art, but its only ever going to be good at replacing the bottom of the barrel, as harsh as that might be to say, without the hand of an actual artist.

Of course it can't be ignored either that AI has already had about as much a negative impact on art spaces as it has a positive one.

Regardless of how you feel about AI, i can't fathom how anyone could see it as a good thing to see forums and image hosts getting spammed 24/7 with garbage AI submissions pulled direct from output.

Abstruse · Jul 8, 2023

As you can tell from the show notes, this is a topic I've been following closely and had most of those links handy. About the only thing that didn't get brought up is that a lot of image generation algorithms (I hate calling them "AI" because it makes people think it's Data painting them a picture of Skynet or HAL-9000 plotting to take over the world) are starting to hit a feedback loop where they're scraping so much artwork without checking credits that they're pulling art from other algorithmically generated sources. So the bot-art is getting trained on other bot-art and picking up bad habits from one another like the Habsburg Chin of image generation.

BrassDragon · Jul 9, 2023

Although it probably won't catch on, I like the way you're framing the technology as a content generation tool, rather than a humanlike intelligence.

To consider the impact on our hobby, we really don't need all the philosophical baggage that is taking us into unproductive debates (like, for example, the Thai library thought experiment - facinating to be sure, but wholly irrelevent to the actual problems and opportunities in front of us.)

Fact is, having readily available technology that can turn sparks of an idea, incomplete thoughts and quick brainstom sessions into actual, viable and enjoyable content (like, say, a whole new game setting, a heartbreaker system tailored to your table, 3D-printed miniatures that perfectly encapsulate your characters, endless additional content for the games you're already playing etc.) is AMAZING.

Everybody is getting worked up about the output, and whether the quality is acceptable, 'soulful' or properly sourced / accredited... but the real revolution is happening on the input side - I don't think people realize how powerful it is to just tell a machine to produce something, in your own words and language. It's going to turn dabblers into creatives and really talented people into content-producing gods.

Yes, right now, the output leaves a lot of be desired. But that's going to change so rapidly. Our current worries are going to seem quaint in a year or two. For all the boycotting and deplatforming of 'AI'-content, I'm absolutely convinced that we'll still have extremely talented and unique game designers in the future... and nearly all of them will be using generative technology in one way or the other, from playtesting to layout to probability table design etc.

Podcast #256: Algorithmic AI Content Generation and RPGs

#256: Algorithmic AI Content Generation and RPGs | Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk

Darryl Mott

Egg Embry

Hero

Emberashh

Hero

Abstruse

Legend

BrassDragon

Adventurer

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