Generative AI in Games Will Create a Copyright Crisis

Where creativity and copyright collide

AI Dungeon is a text-based fantasy simulation game powered by OpenAI’s GPT-3. It allows players to create unique stories by choosing settings, characters, and generating narratives.

The game raises complex copyright issues regarding authorship and ownership.

Although AI Dungeon’s end-user license agreement (EULA) grants users ownership of their content, the game’s reliance on AI prompts questions about who actually writes the stories.

Laws in the US and the UK only recognize humans as authors for copyright purposes. The game’s developer, Latitude, claims that players imprint their personalities and creative choices onto the AI’s output.

The issue of data usage and player permission is critical. Legal and ethical considerations will intensify as the game development industry continues to embrace generative AI tools, and a reckoning in terms of copyright and ownership becomes inevitable.