The internet experienced its usual chaos once more this week, but this time it was concerning a Fortnite spray. The McFly spray, which symbolizes a character made a little doodle in-game of a guy playing a guitar, has been dubbed AI. Isn’t it just too much of a repetition? Something is off, the time is distorted and all of a sudden everyone playing detective is shouting ‘AI!’ into the void. Even so, the artist of the spray, Sean Dove, didn’t want to let it pass unchallenged. He gave evidence along with a sincere explanation that is now quite a topic in the Fortnite community, people are talking, debating, and even getting a little bit too passionate about digital graffiti.
To be more specific, people started to talk that the spray was created by AI. Most probably because there were some folks saying it was too average or weird. But male artist Sean Dove was fast in giving the rebuttal to such claims. He explained his method by saying that he downloaded images of clocks from the internet, combined them and applied a halftone effect. The kicker? He even admitted that the clock numbers were terrible. ‘I’m 100% sure I could have chosen an AI clock and still not be aware,’ he said. Now that’s some truly open conversation. It is not completely an AI piece, but a human-made collage with a possible AI-sourced element that got in by chance. In fact, the artist’s territory is occupied by such cases being the norm and the digital art world confusing.
Responses from the gamers ranged a lot and the reaction was… odd. Although some expressed great support, others said it was a nice gesture from the artist but that they were still waiting for the official confirmation. Claire, one user said, ‘Awwwww, this is the SWEETEST thing they could have EVER done. And YES, AI RUINS EVERYTHING.’ Another one took the opportunity to mention that artists are facing an uphill task in the AI situation in general. ‘Remember, some artists look like they use ai because ai steals from real artists,’ user junichiro mentioned. That’s a crucial aspect that is often ignored. The style might look ‘AI’ because it has been trained on that type of art in the first place. A bizarre, messed-up cycle indeed.
But next came the critics and the super-detailed analysts. One user, Pulled Pork, turned into an art professor in a reply, claiming that the lighting on the character’s shoulder was not right. ‘The light is coming from the left side of the image, but the (our) left shoulder is shaded with ambient light (the blue). If you understand how ambient light/normals work as an artist, you wouldn’t make that mistake.’ Okay, dude. It’s a spray in a game where people build skyscrapers in 10 seconds, but sure, let’s talk about the fine point of shading, like, ambient occlusion. I guess this kind of hyper-scrutiny is what Dove was probably pushing back against—the presumption of guilt over a minor stylistic choice or a rushed asset.
Naturally, the discussion did go back to the big, tiring AI debate, which we all dread but can’t keep away from. Some players were simply done with it. ‘Omfg genuinely who tf actually CARES if small POSTERS OF SPRAYS ARE AI OR NOT it literally affects NOTHING. Especially small posters in a DIGITAL VIDEO GAME WHERE EVERYTHING IS PIXELS ON A SCREEN,’ BPD user exclaimed. Can’t deny the sentiment, to be honest. Still, others perceived it as a slippery slope. ‘It would be a shame If Fortnite decided to do ai stuff. I always liked Fortnite for their responsibility with art by always paying artists to do loading screens, sprays, even music!’ accused a player known as Luce. That’s the core concern, right? That companies will stop paying artists due to cuts in the cost of artwork.
The index even suffered some doom-forecasting about the future. ‘Don’t wanna be a downer, but yeah, this is reality now. Almost anything digital related could be AI. Nothing can be trusted anymore. In fact, I could very well be AI speaking to you and you’ll never know,’ user DRΞNCH was musing. Quite an uplifting thought. Meanwhile, others were trying to be practical about the technology’s place. ‘And that is…when AI is well used to either make art or other stuff…imo that fair and good use of it,’ argued JinxyRae, before adding that using it to make ‘stupid slop’ is the real problem. It really depends on the situation.
Sorry, what was my point again? Oh yes, the spray! There were also people who just thought that art was bad, AI or not. ‘I just think it looks kinda ass ngl, like yeah its nice it was made by a real artist and all’ Meanwhile, the broader PlayStation and Xbox gaming communities continue their own debates about what to play.
