AI is not a moral alignment. It’s a tool. A complicated one, yes, but still a tool. And what Clair Obscur actually proves is the exact opposite of what its critics are claiming. It proves that you can make real art, moving art, human art, even if you use modern tools along the way. We don’t even know what tools were used, how they were used, or why they were used, and yet the verdict is already in.
What makes this even more frustrating is the selective outrage. We happily celebrate games like No Man’s Sky, which is almost entirely procedurally generated, but because we don’t slap the word “AI” on it, that’s somehow fine. The moment you use a tool that people don’t understand, suddenly it’s witch-burning time.
And let’s talk about the “AI steals art” argument for a second. If that’s your entire stance, then you don’t actually understand how generative AI works. Which is fine, it’s complex. But shouting with confidence about something you refuse to learn about doesn’t make you righteous, it just makes your outrage louder than your knowledge.
We’ve been here before. This is Photoshop all over again. “Ban Photoshop!” “It’s the end of art!” “This isn’t real creativity!” Those people were wrong then, and this is the exact same energy now. Different decade, same panic.
Stripping awards from games like Clair Obscur isn’t protecting art. It’s punishing creators for using tools we haven’t collectively decided how to talk about yet. And honestly, I’m done listening to people who proudly refuse to understand AI explain to everyone else why it’s evil.
If the work is good, judge the work.
Everything else is noise.