Fortnite fans start hunting for ‘AI slop’ after spotting alleged AI-generated artwork

A group of Fortnite players have started looking for examples of potential AI-generated artwork in the game.

On the game’s Reddit page on Sunday, Reddit user Thready704 posted an image of a piece of artwork found on a wall in the game’s latest Chapter 7 map, asking: “Is this Chapter 7 art AI generated?”

The image is a poster for the Mile High Retreat, and shows a Yeti lying on a hammock with the caption “relax faster, relax higher”.

However, the Yeti appears to have four toes on one foot and five toes on the other foot, which has previously been an indicator that artwork was likely generated by an AI tool rather than created by a human.

The post has led to numerous other Reddit users trawling Chapter 7 in search of other potential AI-generated art, though neither the Yeti poster or the subsequent other ‘discoveries’ have been confirmed to be AI-generated yet.

One user suggested that a piece of manga-style Marty McFly graffiti art which is unlockable in the game’s Battle Pass is AI, despite there being no immediate tell-tale signs other than their claim that it “looks eerily similar” to a Studio Ghibli style filter that went viral a few months ago.

“I want every asset that I receive through the pass to be human created regardless if it’s a throwaway reward,” the user wrote. “Shame on the higher ups that didn’t want to commission an artist for something that would’ve been amazing for their portfolio. Absolutely disgusting.”

Another user, attempting to defuse the claim, responded: “This is a stretch. Maybe the artist wasn’t that into the AI backlash and didn’t know his art style was that similar. I doubt the artist traced AI because he’s already a famous character with lots of artwork to reference, and I don’t know if it’s a smart risk to use AI on someone else’s IP to be published into the game.

“IMO judging off of speculation like this is disrespectful when you can’t be 100% sure this isn’t something an actual artist put effort into. Everyone’s giving reasons that have nothing to do with the art besides the style or reasons that could pass as human imperfection.”

The artist behind the Marty McFly graffiti art then posted a video showing the artwork and all the art layers that comprise it, proving that it wasn’t AI-generated at all, and was indeed created by them.

The search for AI in Fortnite may have been escalated by recent comments made by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, who posted in a discussion on X that he doesn’t think digital game stores need to flag the use of AI during development, because it will soon become widespread.

“The AI tag is relevant to art exhibits for authorship disclosure, and to digital content licensing marketplaces where buyers need to understand the rights situation,” he wrote. “It makes no sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in nearly all future production.”

While Steam implemented a requirement in early 2024 that all developers should disclose the use of AI when submitting their games to the platform, the Epic Games Store has no such requirement.

Epic has yet to confirm that any of the artwork used for Fortnite Chapter 7 was generated by AI.