Marvel's Use of AI in Secret Invasion Pissed Off Fans Big Time
Secret Invasion has just premiered, and it is already buried under tons of well-deserved backlash.
The MCU 's Phase Five has just gotten its first series, Secret Invasion, which follows Nick Fury and Co. as they attempt to stop the rogue Skrulls from destroying humanity.
The first episode came out yesterday, and the remaining five will be released over the course of this month and the next.
The show already gave us a heart attack by killing off Maria Hill, Fury's longtime S.H.I.E.L.D. associate and friend, at the end of the first episode. However, that's not why everyone is mad at Marvel these days.
Marvel has always tried to keep up with the trends in the industry, which is why the company has decided to use AI-generated art for Secret Invasion's opening sequence, apparently not realizing why this is a bad idea.
Well, the credits do look bad, but fans are offended by the whole creative choice to use AI for production in the first place.
The Writers Guild Strike is currently still happening, and Marvel's timing literally couldn't have been worse. Artists and writers are already losing jobs to AIs, and they are demanding restrictions as one of the main issues of the ongoing strike.
Why is AI so controversial? Simple. It uses human artists' work to generate new content, which is not a better way, but a cheaper, faster, and more efficient one for companies to get all their needs met.
AIs are "stealing" jobs and income from people, and it's not OK. Proper regulation has to be introduced, and that's what the writers and artists are campaigning for.
Marvel is a multi-billion dollar company, and they could've afforded to hire graphic artists to create the opening sequence for Secret Invasion – they simply chose not to.
In an interview for Polygon, director and executive producer Ali Selim shared that the use of AI was intentional, as it was meant to reflect the show's deeper theme (that nothing is real, and identities are stolen).
Granted, Selim's intent wasn't probably malicious, but Marvel still has to do better. Come on, millions of people's jobs are at stake.
That's no Skrull invasion, but it can lead to a global economic crisis and poverty, you know.
Source: Polygon