AI as a Vehicle for Creativity in Video Games – Any Room for Flexibility Via Contracts? A Case Study on AI Dungeon

Abstract

This chapter starts with a brief explanation of the intersection between video games and copyright law. The industry has been growing exponentially over the past few decades, but this has been coupled with difficult (but rather classic by now) legal questions on the legal nature of video games. Furthermore, video game business models have evolved to the extent that we are no longer talking about these as products, but as services. Next, the chapter moves to sketch out the various possibilities to stir creativity via video games – both beyond the game and within it. This becomes particularly relevant when one turns to recent developments in prompt engineering. Section 4 thus studies the general models of generative AI by zooming on to Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion and its incorporation into Latitude’s game AI Dungeon. The final part (Section 5) concludes the discussion by arguing that while AI in gaming has been rather recently implemented, the fast pace with which this creative industry develops will certainly quickly transform the experience of video game players, but also the manner in which one understands (intellectual) property in-game. To that end, once again copyright law may not be the most appropriate legal tool, but instead contract law.

Keywords: copyright law, video games, AI, generative AI