The Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival has rules put in place this year that forbid the usage of AI generated content for any contest entries. For the uninitiated, the Fan Festival is an event that Square Enix holds for Final Fantasy 14 players. It features both live and in-game events for fans to participate in, allowing for fans to meet up. The North American side of Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest 2023 will be taking place this summer in Las Vegas, Nevada.Alongside big events such as a live concert performances of the game's music, there will also be various contests revolving around the MMO. This includes the convention's first ever video contest, where fans create videos on why they love their specific Final Fantasy 14 class or job, a cosplay contest, and a fan art contest. This fan art contest can be illustrated works, screenshots, or physical handcrafted works. A new role has been put in place for this contest, however, that specifically outlines that works generated by artifical intelligence will be forbidden.The rules state that if any artificial intelligence software is used to create or even generate any portion of a contest's entry, the submission will be rejected. If the sponsored judges determine that an entry has utilized any AI software, the entry will be disqualified at the judge's discretion.
The usage of AI generated art has been a hot topic in the last couple of years. Many argue how it's harmful to creatives, as the software requires people to steal art from a database for each creation to be generated. The art generated from these tools are also criticized as potentially creating legal problems down the road. As a result, some fans and creatives in the fandom have praised this move, as there were some who were concerned that AI art would have been allowed, after some of the more controversial decisions that were made by Square Enix's former president.
Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest 2023's fan art contest submissions will be open until May 31, 2023, with submissions requiring to be done through the website's official forms. The entries will displayed online around July 17, which fans will be able to vote for their favorite piece before the festival takes place.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
Source: Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest 2023
