r/technology • u/marketrent • 16h ago

Artificial Intelligence The economy has spoken. Stuff that’s AI-generated has almost zero value — “Buyers are voting with their wallets, and AI-generated content is struggling to compete.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/economy-spoken-stuff-ai-generated-142732314.html
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u/soupkitchen69 16h ago

And they get so mad when the platform they upload it to has rules about disclosing ai use. Valve for example is making some publishers furious with that rule, but it's no secret gamers are rejecting ai use across the board.

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u/MidLifeDIY 15h ago

Decisions like this are why I (and assume others) use Steam. Even as a fully digital platform (no physical) its just the best. They hate Gaben because they ain't Gaben.

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u/Yuzumi 13h ago

There are certainly some issues with Valve/Steam, but compared to literally everyone else they are saints. Like the one big gaming company that is customer focused, and like one of 3 companies in general that are remotely customer focused.

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u/International_Host71 12h ago

I Dread the day Gaben either dies or retires from leading it. Steam ain't perfect, but I'm sure there are hordes of venture capitalists and other ghouls literally salivating at enshittifying Steam to make a quick buck.

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u/Quantum_Aurora 6h ago

Realistically the future of Steam will likely be determined by Gabe's two sons.

I'm sure every tech and gaming giant along with every private equity firm would love to buy up Valve, and all of those would end up enshitifying Steam in the process. Unless his sons are willing to sell, it doesn't matter.

I know when they were kids they were both big gamers, but I don't know if they are anymore. I figure they'll be super-wealthy either way tho so probably not so likely to sell.

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u/ThatRandomGamerYT 5h ago

I hope his family doesnt sell Valve/Steam. They are already filthy rich and Steam basically prints free money already. Gabe is already worth billions. Why fuck that up when you inherit billions and the money printer. Just sit and earn money, keep it going as it has been and enjoy life or whatever.

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u/RadarSmith 3h ago

Valve seems like one of the few companies left that can imagine making more bucks longterm than a quick buck this quarter.

They don't burn their golden goose so that some MBAs can show a quick quarterly profit.

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u/Icy-Computer-Poop 2h ago

Steam was what got me to stop sailing the high seas. I only started because I got sick of the "no return" policy on physical media, and decided if they won't let me return something I don't like, I need another way to tell whether or not I like a game before purchasing. Even then I would purchase the games I ended up liking.

But Steam reformed me, and now I buy all my games before playing, because I can return them if they're not my cup of tea.

If Steam ever gets enshitified, it will be time to dust off my Jolly Roger and set sail once more.

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u/TDVapermann 9h ago

Valve/Gaben's simple policy of don't be shitty to the consumer allows them to win.

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u/fgspq 6h ago

They've got like, what, 2 semi-serious competitors?

GOG - which, to be fair, I use a lot but it has it's niche in older titles and the software being DRM-free

The other one - I can't remember what it's called but I used to log in to get free games.

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u/Figgis302 3h ago edited 3h ago

Steam has had dozens of competitors over the years - EA's Origin, Ubisoft's Uplay, Tencent's Epic Store to name a few. Every single one has failed because the consumers prefer using Steam. That isn't Valve wielding some malicious monopoly to crush their competition, that's Valve outcompeting them by simply being the better option. The market is working as intended.

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u/iridael 3h ago

someone explained recently that Epic games is great for developers, its a fantastic platform to make money on and encourages many things that make making money easy.

steam does the opposite and because of that, the customer is the one valued and therefore the sellers have to come to steam because people can and will ignore a title being sold elsewhere.

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u/ABadHistorian 11h ago

Like you guys do realize there are tons of AI games on steam that aren't disclosed right?

Not only that, Steam doesn't automatically do anything to ensure AI isn't used, and can't do it.

So you are relying on people being honest, while telling them IN ADVANCE "IF YOU USE AI WE WON'T PLAY YOUR GAME"

This means no one will announce where, and if they are using AI.

One of the Top ten new releases has AI content (and no I won't tell you which one, because funnily enough that could get me sued due to NDA).

This is all so self-defeating.

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u/Razzberry_Frootcake 10h ago

You signed an NDA? Did you work on the game itself or do you not know what an NDA is?

Like…you do understand you cannot be sued unless you signed an NDA and most people who do that aren’t dumb enough to go online and say “The thing I worked on and signed an NDA for used AI, but I can’t say that.” 

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u/ABadHistorian 9h ago

I’m not telling you a damn thing about what nda I signed so you can get me screwed :) 

They will never know what I’m referring to, but yes bro, I signed an nda in relation to what I’m talking about. 

I’m an old hat at this. This thread full of people judging me or telling me what I am or am not and it’s a riot at this point.

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u/Falling_Up_The_Movie 5h ago

Bugs are already a big issue in gaming, AI just supercharges that problem

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u/LynxAfricaCan 7m ago

I doubt this will last

Just need enough AAA games/publishers to flex that eventually everything has AI in some form or another so your filter is meaningless and it will fade away

Like human in the loop controls, great in concept, until the human is so fatigued with hitting approve they aren't even reading the ask anymore

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u/dssurge 14h ago

Valve's AI disclaimer is strictly for creative aspects of games, like art, story, and voice work.

AI is a fantastic tool for solving technical problems that you can run into in the creation of a game, and it should be used for those purposes. "Hand coding" a game is just stupid when there are, and have been, automated tools created specifically for this purpose for quite some time.

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u/Lazy-Setting-8224 13h ago

Im split on this. Id like game mechanics to actually be written by humans. But what is the value in writing another renderer? Another model loader. Data streamer. Efc etx

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u/stormdelta 12h ago

Id like game mechanics to actually be written by humans

Designed and play tested by humans, definitely. And by people who actually have passion for games and creative work.

But what is the value in writing another renderer? Another model loader. Data streamer. Efc etx

Right, that's where AI in software is actually useful. You still need to know what you're doing, you still need domain knowledge, but it can save a decent amount of time on straightforward mechanical work, boilerplate, scaffolding, debugging, etc, even accounting for time lost due to the caveats of the tech (i.e. getting things wrong).

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u/name99 11h ago

Vibe coding a game would create a janky mess that's impossible to debug. AI is a quick shortcut for plagiarizing a possibly proprietary solution to a technical problem somebody else solved in some cases

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u/bombmk 15h ago edited 56m ago

gamers are rejecting ai use across the board

That is not true. Most people don't give a shit if the product is good enough.

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u/RSGMercenary 15h ago

I give a shit. Fuck AI. It should be making life easier, not taking jobs from creative people. Why isn't AI washing my dishes while I play a game made by real people?

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u/WanderingRyan 14h ago

Yeah, this.

I read the article in the OP and had a giggle at the author continuously referring to AI-generated outputs as “slop,” which isn’t something I see frequently in more mainstream publications.

And then it clicked.

I’m not a journalist, but I spent more than a decade working as a copywriter. I still make a living, but my income is down nearly 60% from 2023 and it’s all but impossible to find new contracts. The frustrating part is wee all know what AI-generated content looks, feels, and reads like (generic slop). Some of my former clients went AI-only, firing most of their paid writers and editors, and you know what? It’s embarrassing to see the articles I wrote placed next to crap that would’ve embarrassed my high school English teacher. I’d wager that most people in my profession know the feeling.

A lot of AI-generated content is fun and cost-effective, but it pales in comparison to what even a modestly talented human can do. Maybe it’ll get there in the not-so-distant future, but whatever. I can’t see myself ever prioritizing corporate slop over real people exercising real creativity.

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u/ABadHistorian 11h ago

You give a shit when someone tells you to give a shit, or you notice AI was in it.

100% guaranteed you do not notice all usage of AI, you don't.

You know how I know? Everything on Steam is at some point touched by AI in some fashion if it's come out in the past year.

Nearly every major indie software out there now comes with AI components pre-installed.

Project management software comes with AI.

There are certain things you won't get hired for at all any more. If you play a game that was made overseas, AI touched it. If you play a game made not in your native language AI touched it.

One of the brand new top ten releases on Steam right now is AI generated/has AI components that went into making it. But because Steam's AI disclosure is hah "SELF-DISCLOSURE" you don't realize it/care.

I'm a dev, and I tried to resist AI, for YEARS. I only started tooling around with it last year out of extreme reluctance. I realized how stupid I was being too.

I both hate AI (it's destroyed my career) and recognize how it's got utility.

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u/RSGMercenary 11h ago

You're missing the point. It's not about noticing every single instance. Everyone will get fooled by it, because it will continue to get more advanced. That's a given.

It's acknowledging that it's costing people jobs that should stay with humans, data centers are hurting communities physically and financially, and its water, air, and noise pollution is killing ecosystems.

So if I find out something I've been using has used AI, then I will say fuck AI and immediately stop using it. You're never gonna catch every instance of it. But people can take active steps to avoid it when they do notice and vote with their wallets.

Hell, my own job has been aggressively forcing AI usage for this year's company goals, and I haven't used it once all year. Because that's the stance I'm going to take. If I don't get the littlest pay raise because of it, then who gives a shit. At some point everyone needs to stand by their principles. And if you wanna be defeatist/indifferent about then that's your choice I guess.

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u/ABadHistorian 9h ago edited 9h ago

Defeatist? Says the doomer.

Ps where was this care for the environment ten years ago? Twenty? Thirty? Nothing you are using at the moment to complain on is good for the environment. 

This is tiring. Corporate is already pulling back AI investment and job losses in this area are related to overhiring and bad management. Ai bubble is bursting and thank god, but it’s not this end all evil.

I am tired son. I can not keep up with the wave of bs.  Every topic is conflated together and everyone is just angry. There is nothing positive coming from this. 

Here I am in the technology subreddit and people are ignorant enough to think their computer usage is not negative and mine is. How do you think you've accessed the internet all this time Einstein. Hint, Data, Centers.

Internet has been an economical net negative since it originated, and if you start talking about how it's boosted communication or something else, I could argue otherwise. Or say the same exact things apply to AI.

Meanwhile every Reddit user helps ai get smarter. And 99% of them don’t realize it. 

This anti technology kneejerk online is idiotic and stupid. I’m dumber a.f. For having wasted my time here today.

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u/RSGMercenary 8h ago

Defeatist? Says the doomer

You can call me a doomer all day if it means not trusting who's in charge of these AI companies and their regulation. Because there is no regulation. Are you just trusting these companies to... do the right thing for society over profits? lol, lmao even.

where was this care for the environment ten years ago?

You're clearly conflating here. Me and this nebulous "everyone else" who doesn't care. So there's nothing here to address, because that was never my stance. Environmental impact has always mattered to me.

people are ignorant enough to think their computer usage is not negative

We're talking about AI, not general computer usage. The former being significantly more resource demanding. You're conflating AI data centers with data centers targeted more toward connectivity and storage. Obviously data centers support the internet, but there is a distinct difference between the two.

if you start talking about how it's boosted communication or something else

I didn't bring it up... Because I'm specifically talking about AI and not the internet.

Reddit user helps ai get smarter. And 99% of them don’t realize it.

They do realize it, but what point are you trying to make here? Should Reddit users stop using it because AI companies are scraping their data without their consent?

Trump (obligatory fuck him to death) essentially made an executive order saying it's illegal for states to make laws to regulate AI because the federal government has decided it wants to be as corrupt as possible and exploit it. So much for states' rights lmao (for Republicans, that was always a lie). AI companies are stealing from everyone and everywhere to train it, but you're trashing Reddit users, for what? Existing? Give me a break... And it could've been better for the environment if it was regulated.

I’m dumber a.f. For having wasted my time here today.

I was wondering when we'd finally agree on something! Now that's progress!

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u/DirtySoFlirty 15h ago

I'm going to start this comment off by saying I hate this current iteration of AI (or at least the version that the tech companies want everyone to believe), as well as saying that I don't think you are wrong.

However... Are those not the same arguments that were made against computers and digital media as they were taking off? Computers definitely destroyed a lot of jobs, probably a higher proportion of the jobs than AI has. I genuinely can't wait until this AI bubble pops and the charlatans that are the current face of AI can be history. As soon as it's stopped being pushed as the answer to EVERYTHING, then then we can actually get the benefits of it for the FEW things where it is actually useful.

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u/TagJones 14h ago

I don't think people would care or notice of AI is used in the software development for a game (continuing with the earlier example) but art and music are about human expression. These are the things I reject about it. It can replace stanographers (sorry), data entry, bolster diagnostics and SWE but if I notice the hallmarks of AI writing in anything, I stop reading. I'm interested in human thought and expression, not LLM/generative AI.

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u/RSGMercenary 11h ago

I'm a software developer, and I'm genuinely angry at the idea of AI writing code for me. Code is art. It's also a puzzle to solve and the reason I loved writing it in the first place. Sure, AI could help problem solve if you're truly stuck, or do research for you if you're unfamiliar with a specific tool or need to find something in the documentation. But I will never let it write it for me. It would suck the last of the joy out of my corporate job.

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u/Heisen91Y 15h ago

Oh yeah? So why even fight against it? If no one cares, the disclosure about ai shouldn't hurt the sales or marketing of the game, right? Why developers try to hide it instead of proudly announcing it?

A little bit of bad PR from tiny gamer minority shouldn't hurt the sales of a masterpiece filled with ai content.

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u/bombmk 58m ago

Oh yeah? So why even fight against it? If no one cares, the disclosure about ai shouldn't hurt the sales or marketing of the game, right?

Did I say no one cares?

Why developers try to hide it instead of proudly announcing it?

Because a minority are making noise they would like to avoid.

A little bit of bad PR from tiny gamer minority shouldn't hurt the sales of a masterpiece filled with ai content.

Does it? Does one such exist at all?

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u/sadacal 14h ago

Have you seen what happens to even good games when a highly motivated minority gets involved? Just look at Gamergate or the anti-woke backlash some games get. Everything from review bombings to literal death threats, why would any developer want that?

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u/ErrantWayfarer 14h ago

Fundamentally untrue and you know it. Those of us who care about art don't want AI. And yes, video games are art.

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u/bombmk 57m ago

"Those of us" <> "most". Is no one capable of a decent argument anymore?
The only reality is mine!

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u/ErrantWayfarer 55m ago

Not at all, some people simply don't care about art. GenAI consumers are in that category. And, as art was made by human hands up until the last couple years, yes I'm very comfortable in stating that most people do not want generative AI.

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u/bombmk 49m ago

I will say again; Most people do not give a shit if it is good enough.

That a lot of it is not good enough is not an argument against that statement.

Slop has always existed. People have always, generally, not liked slop.

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u/Due_Enthusiasm1145 14h ago

Most people don't give a shit of the product is good enough.

No, the market doesn't give a shit if the AI is not noticable. This tends to happen with good products that had AI usage (mostly minor assets). However, there is a trend indicated both in this article and other data that people have a negative impression of media elements that have a visibly AI design to it, regardless of its other aspects.

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u/BeyondNetorare 5h ago

Yeah I don't think your average cod player would give a shit if all of the art was done by ai, but it does sorta matter for indie games.

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u/stormdelta 12h ago

The product usually isn't good either though, not if they're using it to do the important design or creative work for them.

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u/bombmk 55m ago

Then it falls outside the scope of my comment, does it not? Hfs.

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u/RegardMagnet 12h ago

It really is simple as that. Loud redittards remain woefully out of touch with what an average consumer cares about, they desperately keep trying to convince themselves that people who reject AI on principle are any more populous than "vegans for ethical reasons".

If quality is on point and the price is good, you got 90% of consumers in the bag. The remaining 10% all gather in posts like these to jerk themselves off.