As a person born in 1980, I am not immune to the justifiable concern around artificial intelligence and its ramifications on society (Skynet anyone?).

Be that as it may I have chosen to use AI generated images for my card game, its packaging and on the website for the following reasons:

1. I have an issue with committing to creative projects. Historically if I have hit a roadblock and lost forward momentum, I will discard the project. Much of the appeal of this project was the variety of moving parts. If I needed to wait before continuing one element there was always something else that could be worked on. Very early in the process I realized my limited artistic skills would not be sufficient for my needs, (I can draw well, but nowhere near well enough for what I envisioned). The time required to source an artist and have them produce sixty individual pieces of art would have taken so much time that I knew I would falter, and I genuinely feared abandoning another project, especially one I was excited about.  AI image generation allowed for quick turn around on card art, and as a visual person this helped fire my imagination and enthusiasm for the project, due to being able to place an image to the name & flavour text of the cards. It should be noted we do plan on releasing some expansions with actual artists work if the project is successful enough, but this action will be reflected in the price point.
2. Hobbies are becoming increasingly expensive, I wished this project to be an affordable card game, (following the expansion model rather than trading card so players wouldn’t waste money on random “booster” packs). Art consignments are expensive, as such to offset the cost the price point of the game would have to rise. Using AI generated images means we can offer the players a far more cost-effective game and subsequent expansions.

As for further use of AI, I have not and will not use it for the literary aspects of my game (names, flavour text & world building) or the development of the rules or mechanics.

These are the areas that will be generated by HI (human intelligence) as I feel the mechanics need be human driven as they are the most important aspect of the game.

As for the literary elements, that’s my forte, as I have always loved world building, and it’s the area I have the most skill with, as such though I will use the tools of AI to visually depict the world of RED MITTENS, it’s soul will always originate from within my imagination.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     – Michael Alcock