Genvid CEO denies AI use in Silent Hill Ascension, claims all words are from their "talented team"
These jams are all-natural my friend, as speculation from onlookers is shot down.
The CEO of Genvid Holdings, Jacob Navrok, has released a statement following speculation that Silent Hill: Ascension - the much-criticised live service gaming collaboration between Genvid and Konami - was made with help from AI software. Navrok rejects these claims wholesale.
Writing on Twitter, Navrok stated: "Every word in Ascension was written by real people, many of whom have long-running careers in writing including Telltale titles, Pixar titles, [God of War] Ragnarok, Resident Evil Village and more. Across our 100,000+ words, zero are authored by LLMs or AI, and all are from [the] dedicated work of a talented team."
Speculation around the use of AI is typical in modern discourse surrounding writing, especially work that critics or audiences consider to be poor or substandard. In this case, the idea that Silent Hill: Ascension was using AI stemmed from various series moments that fans cosnidered especially strange, including the recently-dubbed "berry man", who was seemingly the main thing that triggered Genvid Holdings' statement.
This would usually be where the hearsay and speculation dies, however, some online sleuthing has kept the sparks of it alive among fans. For one, Navok has publically tweeted that all of the company's future projects would be using AI characters. In addition, Genvid's Chief Creative Officer has taken part in a panel and hosted a talk at this year's Simulations Summit, an AI-focused tech event.
The truth, as always, is not so black and white. In a recent interview with Vulture, Navok stated that while AI was considered at the start of the Ascension project, testing of it led to poor results and an experience one member of Genvid's staff called "lynchian". From there, its involvement in Silent Hill: Ascension was reportedly scrapped.
So, what's the reality here? We obviously can't know for sure to what extent AI has or hasn't been used internally at Genvid or on Silent Hill: Ascension. It's clear that AI is something Genvid - a creator of what it dubs masively interactive online events (or MILES) - is heavily investigating the use of for future work, if not Ascension. You should also note in that statement that the rejection of AI has only been applied to the writing in Silent Hill: Ascension. This may just be to address the current speculation directly, but it could also indicate that AI might still potentially be being used elsewhere on the project.
The reality of the current social media landscape is that a large portion of written work being released will be accused - rightfully or not - of AI involvement. There's good reason to be cautious of course, various television shows, websites, and other media experiences have kept alleged AI involvement kept on the downlow.
Whether or not you think Silent Hill: Ascension is using AI is ultimately up to your own judgement, now you know the whole story. What do you think of the series? If you are liking it, would the use of AI, if true, turn you off it? Let us know!