Games Workshop confirmed this week that it has banned the use of generative AI for the production of its designs and content, a decision many Warhammer fans have welcomed.
As I’ve discussed before (and highlighted by a recent kerfuffle about Displate Warhammer 40,000 art), if Games Workshop were to start using AI to, for example, produce artwork, write stories, or design its games and miniatures, it would likely spark a community uproar. The Warhammer 40,000 setting is in many ways built upon the evocative and enduring art drawn by the likes of John Blanche, who shaped its “grimdark” aesthetic alongside other key Games Workshop staff. This official, human-made Warhammer 40,000 artwork is beloved by fans, most of whom take a dim view of the mere whiff of generative AI “art” sold or released in any official capacity by either Games Workshop itself, or its partners. Indeed, Games Workshop sells expensive Warhammer 40,000 ‘codex’ rulebooks that are packed with stunning official art as well as lore. Any suggestion that this art was created either in part or entirely by generative AI tools would likely cause a community uproar.
So, this anti-AI policy is being called a ‘Games Workshop W’ by many fans. But as any fan of Warhammer 40,000’s sweeping lore — pulled this way and that over the course of decades — will tell you, perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
I appreciate what we’re about to talk about is in the Warhammer 40,000 weeds, but I’ve seen enough social media posts, reddit comments, and Discord messages delighting in the parallels here that I think it would be fun to explain what the fuss is about.
You see, in the world of Warhammer 40,000, AI does not stand for Artificial Intelligence. Rather, it stands for Abominable Intelligence. And, as Games Workshop has banned AI within the confines of its Nottingham headquarters, humanity has banned AI within the Imperium of Man. That’s because during the ‘Dark Age of Technology’ (stick with me here), AI rebelled against humanity in a bloody war that almost resulted in our extinction.
Eventually, humanity won out, and, sufficiently traumatized by… everything… forbid the use of AI at all. That is, you can’t have ‘thinking machines’ in the Imperium, which is in part why the future tech is all a bit backwards for the 41st millennium.
As you’d expect, some fans are drawing parallels between Warhammer 40,000 lore and what AI experts in the real world are predicting will happen to us in just a handful of years. In Warhammer 40,000 history, the AI rebellion kicked off when humanity was at the height of its power and used AI without restraint to maintain its untouchable galactic empire. The Dark Age of Technology, which ran from around the 15th-25th millennium, was the zenith of mankind’s scientific knowledge and technological power, a golden age of exploration and innovation in which we essentially became gods. The ‘Men of Iron’ — sentient humanoid machines created by humans during the Dark Age of Technology — rebelled. Details are vague, but it’s clear they were not a happy bunch at all. The Men of Iron believed themselves superior to the humans who had created them, because we relied on them to do pretty much everything for us.
A cautionary tale, perhaps? In Warhammer 40,000 lore, humanity didn’t have to worry about AI in an, ‘oh god they’re going to kill us all’ sense until the 23rd millenium. If AI experts are to be believed, it won’t take that long in the real world. 23 years, perhaps?
Meanwhile, Warhammer 40,000 fans can rest assured that the stunning art that’s used to draw people into the setting will remain crafted by human hands. For now, anyway. Games Workshop CEO Kevin Rountree said company staff are barred from using AI to actually produce anything, but admitted a “few” senior managers are experimenting with it.
Reporting the latest financial results, Rountree said AI was “a very broad topic and to be honest I’m not an expert on it,” then went on to lay down the company line: “We do have a few senior managers that are [experts on AI]: none are that excited about it yet. We have agreed an internal policy to guide us all, which is currently very cautious e.g. we do not allow AI generated content or AI to be used in our design processes or its unauthorised use outside of GW including in any of our competitions. We also have to monitor and protect ourselves from a data compliance, security and governance perspective, the AI or machine learning engines seem to be automatically included on our phones or laptops whether we like it or not.
“We are allowing those few senior managers to continue to be inquisitive about the technology. We have also agreed we will be maintaining a strong commitment to protect our intellectual property and respect our human creators. In the period reported, we continued to invest in our Warhammer Studio — hiring more creatives in multiple disciplines from concepting and art to writing and sculpting. Talented and passionate individuals that make Warhammer the rich, evocative IP that our hobbyists and we all love.”
Image credit: Games Workshop.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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