Fans suspect Niantic used AI to create a new piece of Pokémon GO art

It recent months, multiple game development studios have started using AI programs to generate art for their projects. Some companies have been forthcoming about the use of AI to create art, while others have tried to sneak it under the radar. Now Niantic finds themselves smack-dab in the middle of that AI art conversation with a new piece of Pokémon GO content.

The artwork above is for the Pokémon GO ‘Adventures Abound’ season, and at first glance it seems like a nice piece of background art. Not surprisingly, diehard Pokémon fans and AI art detectives have come together to scrutinize the image above, and they believe they see some hallmarks of computer-generated artwork. From blurred lines to elements seemingly out of place, quite a few people think Niantic has been using AI programs to get their artwork done.

Kotaku reached out to Niantic about these allegations, and their response doesn’t give a clear-cut answer. What it does do is point to Niantic using AI programs for their projects, although we don’t know if the image in question was created in that way. You can see Niantic’s full statement below.