In a significant move towards transparency, developers on Itch.io are now mandated to disclose the use of generative AI in their gaming projects. This announcement, made by founder Leaf Corcoran, emphasizes the importance of clarity regarding the technologies employed in game development.
New Disclosure Requirements
According to the updated guidelines, creators must specify if their game incorporates generative AI and detail the specific applications of this technology. The disclosure encompasses various elements, including:
- Graphics
- Sound
- Text and dialogue
- Code
When developers indicate that their game utilizes generative AI, it will be tagged accordingly. Furthermore, there are distinct tags available for games that leverage AI for specific functions such as graphics, sound, text, dialogue, and code. This initiative aims to foster a clearer understanding of how generative AI contributes to the gaming experience.
Itch.io elaborated on the nature of generative AI, describing it as systems capable of producing new content—be it text, images, or music—by learning from extensive datasets. This includes well-known models like ChatGPT for language generation and DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion for image creation. The platform encourages developers to utilize the AI Disclosure section on their project’s edit page to accurately tag any materials generated by AI.
However, not all algorithms fall under the generative AI umbrella. Projects employing self-contained algorithms that do not rely on external large datasets are exempt from these tagging requirements. Traditional game AI functionalities, such as NPC pathfinding, enemy behavior patterns, procedural level generation, fuzzy logic systems, and dynamic difficulty adjustments, are not classified as generative AI and thus do not necessitate disclosure.