The cover art for Kingdom Hearts Collection I-III is AI generated.
Here is the image in question:
I'm going to focus on the parts that are very obviously AI generated. I've seen accusations that the character illustrations are also AI, and I'm not fully convinced by those accusations, but I also don't personally know enough about these character designs and prior box art to make a sound judgement.
I will say this: if the characters were AI generated, they almost certainly had to be heavily cleaned up by an artist. There are too many repeating elements such as zippers, chains, fingers, and soles of boots, which AI by itself would have unmistakably fudged. Best case scenario, the illustrations look a little rushed.
But let's take a look at the background elements, which I can say with confidence were definitely AI generated:
The clock tower to the lower right of Goofy drew my attention immediately.
Seemingly unrelated fun fact time! I am a quilter and I work at a sewing shop. As of recently we've seen a surge in popularity of steampunk themed fabric prints... and a LOT of it has been AI generated garbage. Steampunk tends to feature a lot of clockwork and mechanical components and things like that, which AI struggles immensely with.
Here's are some examples from a real fabric panel that I have seen with my own two eyes in real life. Focus on the gears. See how their spokes are all over the place, and screw holes are just placed willy-nilly:
The giraffe is a particularly egregious example.
AI is good at making things look sensible from a distance, but once you get close up, you start seeing things that no real artist in their right mind would accept in their own work. Look for elements that should be symmetrical or have repeating patterns. AI consistently sucks at depicting them.
Another thing that AI is notoriously bad at is preventing its lines from melting into hot sludge. On the left side of the KH Collection cover art we see this in action:
Wtf is that on the left? Are those crates? Are they supposed to be bricks? The siding of a building? I literally can't even tell. Not to mention whatever is going on with the railing of the staircase, and the way the lamps(?) are melting into the surrounding elements.
Sometimes AI is conveniently obvious like this. It makes our lives easier by making it simple to avoid. But other times it can be a little trickier. At first glance, this strange castle in the top right looks intentionally designed, with its towers pointing in many different directions:
But upon closer inspection we see the same issues as before. Lines melting together, vague structures, and nonsense geometry. Again, things that a real artist wouldn't do deliberately, especially not for the cover art of a highly acclaimed series.
For comparison, even M.C. Escher's busiest and most warped sketches are well defined. The drawings follow a clear set of geometrical rules. You can easily make out the edges of all buildings/structures, even down to the tiniest details such as the windows:
I feel really truly awful for Kingdom Hearts fans who have been waiting for huge news for so long, only to get served a side of AI slop.
The worst part about it all is that even if the character illustrations are legit, they are always going to be called into question now. There's a saying that goes something like "the gallery as a whole is only as good as its worst piece." I think this box art exemplifies that saying. So long as the background is AI generated, we can only assume that everything else is as well.
I do hope that Square Enix feels a nasty backlash from this, because I do NOT want AI in the art that I enjoy, whether it's in video games, art, music, writing, movies, and on and on and on.
I hope that this post can at least help people learn how to spot AI art with greater confidence. Feel free to point out more evidence in the notes, it's a great exercise!
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