Looks like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is getting all the wrong kind of attention after release, especially with it’s in-game AI usage for a myriad of images and other materials (mostly in the game’s calling cards, posters and more artwork assets). And while publisher Activision has admitted that generative AI was indeed used in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, now US Congressman Ro Khanna has issued a statement directed at AI usage for developing videogames in general.
Ro Khanna, who is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, has stated the following:
“We need regulations that prevent companies from using AI to eliminate jobs to extract greater profits. Artists at these companies need to have a say in how AI is deployed. They should share in the profits and there should be a tax on mass displacement.”
What makes his message directly relevant to the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 situation is the fact that he used a quote tweet of Pirat_Nation’s X post about Black Ops 7’s use of generative AI.
And furthermore, the politician has posted another message that adds to his previous statement and reflects on the entire industry at large:
“A company replacing artists with AI is not much different than one that replaces truck drivers. AI cannot just be for enriching tech billionaires. AI must be for us, not them.”
As AI usage continues to grow with many companies and publishers heavily investing on various forms of the technology, so does the fear of many talented artists and developers being replaced by AI at some point in the future. And as the industry have proven to place profit over people on many occasions, the U.S Congressman’s message sounds both timely and alarming in the context of the overall situation.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 came out on November 14 for both PC and consoles and has had somewhat of a mixed reception from many critics and players alike with strong criticisms aimed at the first person shooter’s online-only campaign mode which doesn’t allow pausing or even Checkpoints.
