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You can probably guess what it had to say.
Image credit: Wacom
The problem of AI-generated images appearing in bog companies' promotional materials has resurfaced once again. Everyone wants a cute dragon in their ads, but you have to be careful with what and who you trust to deliver it. The drawing tablet manufacturer Wacom knows this first-hand as it was accused of using AI-made pictures in its New Year's campaign.
"Did anyone see that even in their email newsletter, Wacom used not one, not two, but three AI generated "art" pieces with really weird teeth, eyes, scales, horns, and weird outlines that seem to have ghosting elements on them?" asked X/Twitter user Bison Boi and was right: Wacom removed the materials and eventually published an explanation of what happened. Spoiler alert: it's the same stuff every other company says.
"You have pointed out to us that we may have incorporated Al generated images into our New Year's marketing assets. We hear your concerns and questions. We know you are upset that it has taken us so long to address the situation. We needed the time to investigate and get the facts right."
The company claims using AI images was not its intent as it bought them through a third-party vendor "where it was indicated that they were not Al generated."
"We vetted the images through a few popular online tools that also indicated that they were not Al generated. However, given the community's feedback, we are now not sure how the images were created. For this reason, we immediately discontinued their use."
Wacom also added that it "supports human creativity and strives to serve the community with integrity" and is now reviewing and updating its processes.
In the comments, X/Twitter users were quick to point out that the artist on Adobe Stock who most likely provided the pictures clearly uses AI in all their works, and it's obvious. Unfortunately, it's hard to prove this claim now as the creator's page has been deleted.
A similar situation was brought to the public's attention just several days ago: Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast was booed for using artificial intelligence to create visuals for a marketing campaign for Magic: The Gathering. After denying the accusations for several days, the company admitted that some AI elements had "crept into [their] marketing creative," but, of course, it's the third-party vendor's fault. The problem is Hasbro laid off 1,100 employees right before Christmas. Who knows, maybe some of them could've done the AI's job better.
It's getting harder to spot non-human touch every day, and I can't help but wonder what people's keen eyes have missed. The abundance of such stories makes many artists' worries much more tangible.
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