Epic Games Declines to Regulate AI-Generated Thumbnails in Fortnite, Citing Future Detection Challenges

'AI is going to become more and more difficult to detect': Fortnite has no plans to clean up increasing number of AI thumbnails cluttering up user-generated experiences

Fortnite Discovery has become a cesspit for AI-generated thumbnails. Head into Fortnite's ever-growing library of user-generated game modes and you'll be inundated with all kinds of AI-generated thumbnails vying for your attention. That won't be changing anytime soon either, as Epic product management director Dan Walsh and executive vice president Saxs Persson dove into the rise of generative AI usage in Fortnite during a YouTube livestream around moderation in the battle royale. When asked by host MustardPlays about Epic's stance on AI -- including the number of AI-generated thumbnails in Fortnite Discovery -- Walsh said: "From our perspective, for moderation, thumbnails... we don't really care what tool you use to make your thumbnails. All we care about is whether or not it's compliant with our rules." Walsh says the reason for that is the fast progression of generative AI, and the workload that would go into moderating its usage. "I think to some degree AI is going to become more and more difficult to detect," he said. "It's not going to stand out as a unique thing, it's just going to be another tool that people are using to create things. So trying to look for that specifically is going to become increasingly difficult to the point that it's probably going to become unenforceable." Talking about Epic's own usage of AI (though not generative AI), Persson said "what's unassailable is that it's revolutionising a lot of workflows to make them incredibly powerful," citing Epic's own Unreal Engine MetaHumans as an example. Going back to AI art, though, Persson said: "For me, if you can detect an AI thumbnail, that also means it has a particular look that, if you can stand apart with a particular artist that has a distinct style, you're still standing out against what is, in truth, a lot of very generic-looking AI-generated art. So I don't think, internally at least, do we feel like we need to start making Fortnite outfits using AI models? No. We believe that the approach we have taken embraces technology but puts humans in the centre of it still, because that's how you get the best results." Walsh chimed in to agree, adding: "When you look at people who are putting in the effort and investing in creating the best possible version of a thumbnail, I think they're standing out from the crowd." MustardPlays then notes a trend that happened last year which involved numerous thumbnails with AI-generated images, often including graphics from copyrighted stuff like Spongebob, Family Guy, and The Simpsons. Something which Persson said could have happened at the hands of a real artist anyway. "We've always had violative content, it's not like that changed just because you can do an AI thumbnail. Coins on thumbnails were a thing before AI too." he said, referring to misleading usage of currency graphics, something which is against creator rules. It's a really difficult line to draw, there's no doubt." I mean, on the one hand I do get it. There are a ridiculous number of user-created game modes and maps knocking around and trying to moderate them all sounds like a gigantic headache. But it seems like Persson and Walsh's main concern -- at least from a moderation standpoint -- is IP infringement. Whether that comes from generative AI or not. Personally, I feel like the increasing showing of AI art across Discovery makes Fortnite look incredibly tacky. It feels like shovelware but worse, and I'd rather take a legitimately-made shitty thumbnail over an equally shitty AI-generated one. It's at least somewhat comforting to know Epic doesn't intend to use the technology for its own asset generation anytime soon. It at least has that over whatever the hell Activision is doing to Call of Duty.

Fortnite won't police AI-generated thumbnail images, and Epic Games says detecting them will likely become impossible

Fortnite maker Epic Games has weighed in on the increasing use of AI-generated thumbnail images within the game by third-party creators for their own mini-games. As well as its popular battle royale modes, Fortnite is also home to thousands of user-generated Islands, hundreds of which are recommended to players at any given time from the game's main menu. The growing use of AI-generated imagery to advertise these Islands has sometimes left Fortnite's main screen feeling awash with AI slop - and it's something Epic Games has now been asked about. Will the developer put a stop to it? In a word, no - though don't expect Epic Games to start using AI within any of its own first-party modes. "From our perspective, for moderation, thumbnails - like, we don't really care what tool you use to make your thumbnails," product management director Dan Walsh said in an interview with Mustard Plays. "All we care about is whether or not it's compliant with our rules. "I think to some degree AI is going to become more and more difficult to detect," Walsh continued. "It's not going to stand out as a unique thing, it's just going to be another tool that people are using to create things. "So trying to look for that specifically is going to become increasingly difficult to the point where it's probably going to become unenforceable. We're really just focused on - 'does this asset comply with our rules, yes or no?', not 'what tool did you use to make this asset'?" Discussing the idea of Epic Games using AI image generation for its own experiences in future, executive vice president Sax Persson emphasised the company's stance that the "best results" came from humans still. So don't expect an AI-generated Fishstick skin in the shop anytime soon. "We've always embraced new technology, but with an ethical stance on the source, like as we generate things, it has to be understood and it has to be properly licensed," Persson said of Epic Games' potential AI use. "So to that degree, we rely on what we provide to people directly to be the best tools that we can humanly do, but the ethical guidelines are proper ownership." The fact that people can still tell that third-party thumbnails are obviously made by AI was an example of how human-made images remained the better option, Persson continued. "Do we feel like we need to start making Fortnite outfits using AI models? No. We believe the approach we have taken embraces technology but puts humans in the centre of it still, because that's how you get the best results."

Epic Games Won't Stop AI Generated Thumbnails On Fortnite, Says Gen AI Will Become "More And More Difficult To Detect"

Epic Games project management director Dan Walsh confirms that Epic won't be making the effort to stop Fortnite creators from using AI-generated thumbnails, due in part because Walsh believes that generated AI content will "become more and more difficult to detect." In an interview with Mustard Plays (spotted by Eurogamer), Walsh and executive vice president Sax Persson were both insistent that Epic itself wouldn't be using generative AI in its own creations such as Fortnite skins, but that when it comes to user's content, Epics' concerns are more geared towards whether the content is "compliant with [its] rules," rather than being concerned with how the users made that content. "From our perspective, for moderation, thumbnails - like, we don't really care what tool you use to make your thumbnails," Walsh said. "All we care about is whether or not it's compliant with our rules." "I think to some degree AI is going to become more and more difficult to detect," Walsh continued. "It's not going to stand out as a unique thing, it's just going to be another tool that people are using to create things." "So trying to look for that specifically is going to become increasingly difficult to the point where it's probably going to become unenforceable. We're really just focused on - 'does this asset comply with our rules, yes or no?', not 'what tool did you use to make this asset'?" Generative AI is becoming more prevalent across the industry, with every major company and creator trying to figure out where it fits, if it does, in their process. Larian Studio boss Swen Vincke recently commented that, in his view, generative AI might be able to make the "baseline" of what people can make go up, but it won't replace artists, and that if you tried to use generative AI for everything, you won't have a competitive advantage.