Generative AI in MFGG Games

[mtgames]

As a career musician, I have a very specific stance about generative AI in that realm. However, as a video game design hobbyist, I don't have a very strong position on generative AI in game design.
What is the overall opinion of the MFGG community?

Do you hate generative AI with all your heart and it should never touch your fingertips?
Do you think it's acceptable as an assistive tool?
Are there certain types of assets that should not be AI generated and others that are more acceptable?

Graphics, sounds, code, what's the general consensus here?

[SUPERBLOCK]

In my opinion, AI should only be used as a programming aid or support tool if you're unfamiliar with complex commands. However, you have to be careful in that regard because AI can make mistakes, even with simple commands.
For everything else (sprites, music), I wouldn't recommend it, because 99% of AI-generated material is very poor quality, generic, and repetitive.
I'm not a professional programmer, but I think my opinion is clear: only for programming (and even then, only as a support tool).

new in the web, but not in the Mario fan´s universe

[littlelum]

Yeah, I'm with SUPERBLOCK on that. People want that human touch when it comes to entertainment. I'm fine when it comes to using AI for programming assistance, because that is just for the underlying systems that makes things function. The gameplay is still planned and designed by a person.

For everything else, AI just removes the human connection that people crave.

[DJ Coco]

AI should only be used as a tool but not generating the actual work.
I wouldn't even recommend it for programming outside of isolated cases - mostly in terms of looking up how to do things rather than actually structuring your code. Still, every line should be checked by hand because AI is prone to making errors.

For graphic assets, music, level design, or any other kind of work that is essential to the soul of your product AI is a big no-no for me.

[Louis Paul]

Generative AI can be a double-edged sword, it can be useful for self-improvement and getting new ideas, or can be worthless for hallucinations and low-quality content. To be honest I've never imagined this type of AI would become so advanced in such short period of time.

For graphics and music, there's a great risk of generative AI producing output of shoddy quality. For programming if you are already familiar with the code it can be helpful as an assistant, though it still has the risk of producing non-working code.

Anyway, this reminder here is still relevant today: "This Machine Has No Brain, Use Your Own".

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[matrix]

In my opinion, it's acceptable to use GenAI. But there is a catch:

• You must know when to use and when not to use AI.
  
• Using AI in creative applications, especially generating graphics and sounds, is a big no-no. I generally avoid it.
  
• It's fine to vibecode, but the ratio of AI to humans should be very low, like less than 15%.
  
• Having generative AI in your project and relying 100% on AI is entirely different. 
  
• AI slop is nothing but low-quality, 100% AI generated stuffs which fill in the feed. Which I'm not a huge fan of, and I strongly reject AI slop. I only see AI as a tool, not a weapon for success.
  
• Even if people use AI, it only generates the stuff based on predictions, leading to inaccuracies. Due to that, you still need manual effort to make it exactly what you want.
  

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[VinnyVideo]

I generally recommend steering clear of gen AI tools when making games (especially fangames on MFGG).

Gen AI tools can make images, but these images usually don't look very good. Some of them hallucinate extra fingers or give people arms where their legs ought to be! Even the better-quality AI-generated images would look out of place in most games (especially in Mario fangames).

I'd also recommend caution when using AI tools as a coding assistant. Using AI tools to debug complex code can be understandable, but you also run the risk of generating overly complex solutions that make your codebase more difficult to maintain. This is especially true if you attempt to vibe code a big chunk of your game - you might create a barebones game quickly, but the architecture might be hard to understand, expand, or maintain.

Finally, making games (especially freeware fangames) should be a learning opportunity and a way to have fun and express yourself. Over-relying on AI tools isn't conducive to any of those goals.

Course clear! You got a card.

[mtgames]

Thank you to everybody who has taken the time and effort to respond so far! I think my opinion on gen AI is generally similar to the community's. I agree that it has no place in the creation of graphic and sound assets. Personally, I'm leaning on community-created / ripped graphics with some edits of my own, and I am strongly considering composing my own music from scratch, although I don't have much experience in creating music that sounds like it would belong with a pixel game.

I do think my leniency is higher than most when it comes to coding with AI, but I'm being very cautious and mindful of the code that AI works on. If things aren't working exactly as they should, it's not done. If a solution to an issue is proposed and I know there's a better solution, we're refining it. I am hesitant but also pleasantly surprised at what gen AI has been capable of as a coding tool / assistant, even when I wasn't using an actual coding agent and just basic chat. I'm keeping a very watchful eye.

That's my position though. No place in graphic or sound design, but surprisingly reliable for coding IF you keep your head about you and build with concrete ideas instead of quicksand ones. I do want to keep hearing what people think and feel though. I'm fairly confident in my stance but always open to hear things I haven't considered, plus the last thing I want to do is feed an AI-assisted game to the community if MFGG was strictly anti-AI.