'AI is going to become more and more difficult to detect': Fortnite has no plans to clean up increasing number of AI thumbnails cluttering up user-generated experiences

Head into Fortnite's ever-growing library of user-generated game modes and you'll be inundated with all kinds of AI-generated thumbnails vying for your attention.

That won't be changing anytime soon either, as Epic product management director Dan Walsh and executive vice president Saxs Persson dove into the rise of generative AI usage in Fortnite during a YouTube livestream around moderation in the battle royale.

When asked by host MustardPlays about Epic's stance on AI—including the number of AI-generated thumbnails in Fortnite Discovery—Walsh said: "From our perspective, for moderation, thumbnails… we don't really care what tool you use to make your thumbnails. All we care about is whether or not it's compliant with our rules."

Walsh says the reason for that is the fast progression of generative AI, and the workload that would go into moderating its usage. "I think to some degree AI is going to become more and more difficult to detect," he said. "It's not going to stand out as a unique thing, it's just going to be another tool that people are using to create things. So trying to look for that specifically is going to become increasingly difficult to the point that it's probably going to become unenforceable."

Talking about Epic's own usage of AI (though not generative AI), Persson said "what's unassailable is that it's revolutionising a lot of workflows to make them incredibly powerful," citing Epic's own Unreal Engine MetaHumans as an example.

Going back to AI art, though, Persson said: "For me, if you can detect an AI thumbnail, that also means it has a particular look that, if you can stand apart with a particular artist that has a distinct style, you're still standing out against what is, in truth, a lot of very generic-looking AI-generated art. So I don't think, internally at least, do we feel like we need to start making Fortnite outfits using AI models? No. We believe that the approach we have taken embraces technology but puts humans in the centre of it still, because that's how you get the best results."

Walsh chimed in to agree, adding: "When you look at people who are putting in the effort and investing in creating the best possible version of a thumbnail, I think they're standing out from the crowd."

MustardPlays then notes a trend that happened last year which involved numerous thumbnails with AI-generated images, often including graphics from copyrighted stuff like Spongebob, Family Guy, and The Simpsons. Something which Persson said could have happened at the hands of a real artist anyway.

"We've always had violative content, it's not like that changed just because you can do an AI thumbnail. Coins on thumbnails were a thing before AI too." he said, referring to misleading usage of currency graphics, something which is against creator rules. It's a really difficult line to draw, there's no doubt."

I mean, on the one hand I do get it. There are a ridiculous number of user-created game modes and maps knocking around and trying to moderate them all sounds like a gigantic headache. But it seems like Persson and Walsh's main concern—at least from a moderation standpoint—is IP infringement. Whether that comes from generative AI or not.

Personally, I feel like the increasing showing of AI art across Discovery makes Fortnite look incredibly tacky. It feels like shovelware but worse, and I'd rather take a legitimately-made shitty thumbnail over an equally shitty AI-generated one. It's at least somewhat comforting to know Epic doesn't intend to use the technology for its own asset generation anytime soon. It at least has that over whatever the hell Activision is doing to Call of Duty.