Activision accused of using AI as players notice strange details in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Players have accused the developers and publishers of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 of using artificial intelligence after they spotted strange details in its artwork.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the latest addition to the franchise and is in the running for the title of most popular game of the year.

However, players have noticed some details in the game that don’t quite sit right with them. In some areas, the game's artwork looks a bit uncanny as players notice some irregularities in the character's hands.

One example is the loading screen, where players are greeted by a disheveled, reanimated “Necroclaus,” who seems to have one too many fingers.

Reddit users complained about the degradation of Call of Duty and grieved the past games where graphic designers would actually work on these games.

“AI slop indeed. RIP to our fellow human graphic artists. Was fun when we had ya,” one Redditor said.

Although some speculate that this is intentional in welcoming the sixth edition of the franchise, others believe that this is a telltale sign of artificial intelligence (AI) as AI models fail to properly replicate human hands, perhaps due to a lack of training data.

Another example found by Game Horizon shows a six-fingered glove holding objects from the game.

What shows this is AI slop is the contrast between the objects. The hand, the balls, and the random smoke, is all completely disjointed.

That smoke btw, is gaps that the AI is filling in to match the algorithm and the weights in the network.

100% AI slop. Very obvious.

undefined Dead Star (@DeadStarLegacy) December 7, 2024

Another user also said that the move is a marketing ploy, as this is for Black Ops 6, meaning that all these figures need to have six fingers. However, many argue that the image shows a hand with seven digits as the thumb is just out of view.

According to one user, this isn’t intentional and is obviously “AI slop,” as the contrast between the objects is “completely disjointed.”

When you look at the image more closely, you can see inconsistencies like how the ‘Gobblegum’ balls aren’t spherical and are a bit rough around the edges.

While the presence of AI-generated content hasn’t been confirmed, many players are certain that these images were artificially created.

This wouldn’t be the first time Activision has released something created by AI. According to Game Rant, the videogame publisher released a store bundle for 2023’s Modern Warfare 3 that people said was generated using AI.