Image credit: @vysetron.pixeldie.com / Eurogamer
Players have hit out at The Alters developer 11 Bit Studios after AI prompts were discovered in both subtitles and flavour text in the game, intimating routine use of large language models (LLMs) without disclosure.
Since January 2024, Valve has required games that use pre- or live-generated AI to divulge this as part of the Steam Distribution Agreement. This includes art, code, sound, and more that have been created with the help of AI tools. At the time of writing, The Alters has made no such disclosure.
In one example, an in-game screen that's presumably there to look all sci-fi-y and scientific begins with: "Sure, here's a revised version focusing purely on scientific and astronomical data".
Another commenter who'd played through with subtitles on Brazilian Portuguese noted "several times the subtitles go crazy", which was later backed up with a screenshot that evidenced it. The subtitle read: "Sure! The text translated to Brazilian Portuguese is: Every conversation two people can have, right? So we-"
Image credit: @vysetron.pixeldie.com on BlueSky
"The game is using AI-generated content without a proper Steam Page disclaimer!" said another player on Steam. "This is absolutely unacceptable. 11 bit studios has been caught using AI in The Alters without ANY disclaimer on the Steam page.
"Steam requires developers to disclose AI use for a reason. We have the right to know what we're buying. If you're going to use AI to create content, be honest about it instead of trying to hide it."
Not all players have taken umbrage, however.
Impressão minha ou a tradução pra português de The Alters usou chatgpt e esqueceu de apagar o prompt? (e sim, tá ruim o texto em português do jogo, várias traduções erradas ou imprecisas, frases confusas que não soam natural etc)
"You realise this is tiny text on a background prop, and only exists as a graphic and not as something you're expected to actually read," someone replied. "In the past things like that could have Ipsum etc stuff on it, or random gibberish. This isn't even slightly an issue.
"You may have a point regarding the translations, if those were indeed AI generated. But to use this screenshot as an example of AI generated content is a joke."
Game localisation specialist Lucile Danilov, however, had a different take.
"Look, I love The Alters. It's brilliantly written, and I was planning on leaving it a glowing Steam review once I was done. But this is a disgrace. Seriously, leaving parts of an AI prompt in the lockit?! Talk about spitting in the face of your international audience!
"According to the OP, some parts of the PT-BR translation are also riddled with errors and inaccuracies, which is appalling considering how the whole game revolves around an intricate narrative."
Danilov posited that the mistake was either the work of a "careless translator taking shortcuts", or it was "done by someone on the dev/publisher side who couldn't be arsed sending last-minute missing lines for translation and decided to throw them in a random LLM without oversight".
Handong Ryu, who handled the Korean translation for the game, replied: "I was responsible for translating the vast majority of the Korean version of The Alters. Unfortunately, the same issue exists in the Korean version as well, which makes it more likely that the second scenario you mentioned is closer to the truth. While no AI prompt has been exposed, I can confirm that the same section of the Korean localisation shows clear signs of having been run through an LLM without proper editing.
"There has been significant backlash from the Korean gaming community, and it has been really disheartening to witness, especially since the criticism stems from a part of the game I had no control over."
At the time of writing, 11 Bit has not publicly addressed the allegations or responded to player comments. Earlier this week, Jurassic Park Evolution 3 removed generative AI for scientists' portraits in Jurassic World Evolution 3, "following some initial feedback".
"There's something startlingly unique about what 11 Bit Studios does in its games, and the moral quandaries it puts us in, and this clone story in The Alters is no exception," Bertie wrote in Eurogamer's The Alters review, awarding it 4 out of 5 stars.
"It takes us to the strange places I hoped it would, and prods and probes and makes me think about what I value in life. It's uneven at times, and some ideas feel underdeveloped, but then, I remember, this merging of ideas is new, and that's what I like so much about it."
For more on AI, check out Ed's thoughts on why, "like it or not, gen AI is becoming an invaluable tool for developers".
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