The rise of AI was always going to bring fear over its potential to replace jobs ,but few expected creatives to be first on the menu. Yet here we are. Companies like Activision have openly admitted to using AI-generated content, chasing cheaper alternatives without realising that any money saved is dwarfed by the long-term damage being done to the industry.

The Creative Ecosystem

Thanks to the internet, it’s become easier than ever for artists, voice actors, musicians, and other creatives to chase their dreams and support themselves through their work. The web has become a thriving ecosystem a marketplace, a gallery, and a stage where creatives connect directly with companies and audiences.

In this environment, large media companies (particularly those producing live-service video games) often rely on freelance creatives to handle promotional art, trailers, music, and more. These aren’t just paid gigs they’re critical stepping stones in a creative’s career. They build portfolios, reputations, and relationships.

Take Call of Duty, for example a game with a constant need for promotional material, UI artwork, and in-game events. Activision has access to a global ocean of talent online. Commissioning freelancers should be a no-brainer. Instead, they’ve turned to AI skipping the creative entirely and walking away with what can only be described as a barely serviceable product.

To the untrained eye, AI art might pass especially as a loading screen or a digital store background. But it doesn’t take much scrutiny to spot the strange textures, the uncanny fingers, the warped eyes. And many users do notice. For some, AI content is immediately off-putting. For others, it’s enough to question the authenticity of the entire product.

But more critically, every AI-generated piece is a job lost. A missed opportunity. A creative frozen out of the system. Fewer gigs mean fewer full-time creatives, which means fewer people building portfolios and making their way toward larger projects or permanent roles. The ladder gets kicked out from under them.

What Activision has done is poison the well the very well of creativity we all drink from, whether we create or simply consume. You might not make art, music, or games, but odds are you spend hours each week immersed in media built by people who do. And now, your feeds your timelines, store pages, recommendations are increasingly choked with “AI slop.” It’s not just about one corner of the internet. It’s about an entire pipeline being flooded with cheap, contextless output, burying genuine creative work under a tidal wave of mediocrity.

Why do companies use AI?

AI is here and it’s here to stay. Almost every aspect of our lives will be touched, changed, or reshaped by it. The job market is already feeling the shockwaves, with many entry-level roles being quietly replaced. Young people are finding it harder and harder to start careers.

Yes, AI will create new roles AI engineers, prompt specialists, automation architects. But these new jobs will never match the volume or accessibility of the jobs AI is making obsolete. It’s a net loss, especially for those just entering the workforce.

Companies are increasingly using AI to cut costs replacing people with processes, seeing workers as numbers on a spreadsheet rather than parts of a living, evolving company culture. But few are thinking about the long-term impact. By removing entry points and mid-level roles, they’re starving an entire generation of experience. And when senior roles eventually open up? There’ll be no one left qualified to fill them.

Worse still, the social cost of mass underemployment or outright joblessness hasn’t even begun to be calculated. Stripping people of opportunity and purpose, especially on this scale is not just ethically wrong. It’s socially destabilising.

Returning to creatives: people do care about authenticity. Consumers can tell when something is soulless, mass-produced, or fake. And unless they’re force-fed AI slop until they can no longer distinguish quality, they’ll seek out content that feels real.

That’s why any game studio, media company, or production house serious about long-term success must protect and support their creative talent. Because without real creatives, there is no industry. The short-term savings offered by AI pale in comparison to the long-term cost of undermining the very ecosystem you rely on.

What can we do?

If you’re passionate about authenticity, don’t support AI content. Even something as small as liking AI art on Twitter contributes to engagement algorithms that executives will use to justify cutting real creatives out of the process.
Support artists, musicians, animators, writers, game developers, voice actors however you can. People deserve to be rewarded for their effort, vision, and authenticity. These days, even a like or share can make a real difference.
And to companies big or small commissioning someone for something as simple as a logo can be life changing. It could be their first portfolio piece, their first real paid job, or the push that keeps them going. Without creatives, you have nothing. Strip them of the ability to create, and you’re not just stifling art, you’re building a future that’s sterile, soulless, and dangerously empty.

PAY. YOUR. CREATIVES.

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Please feel free to give me any feedback either in the comments below or you can find me on twitter @TimPMInsights where I post regular insights, statistics and just my general thoughts on video games and similar industries.

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