We say no to Generative AI.
In recent years, with the flurry of technical ‘advances’ in large language models and generative content, the tabletop industry has seen some companies and professionals use Generative AI to ‘enhance’ their products.
Almost simultaneously the industry has also seen a growing resistance to adopting this ‘advancement’.
Whilst there are perceived benefits to using Generative AI, and we understand that it can appear to be fun to play with, there are many hidden consequences to using it.
Since before we started Tabletop Scotland we have counted a number of tabletop game and comic book professionals as friends and acquaintances, and since the convention has grown that number has grown with it. Sadly many of them and other artists, designers, developers, writers in the tabletop game and comic book industries have had their content incorporated into these data sets without their permission.
Generative AI generates content based on other content that it has ‘collected’ within it’s large language model (data set), in the vast majority of cases that other content is ‘scraped’ from published material without the consent of the creator of that other content. The AI is a complex, and machine intensive, application which re-engineers that other content to meet the needs of the prompt given. Almost like it’s breaking down the digital elements of that other content and reconstituting it as something new.
This isn’t simply a case of copyright, although that has a part to play given the numerous legal cases going on, it’s also an environmental and human creativity issue.
Ultimately we neither use it nor do we permit its use at the convention. Which is why since before our 2025 event we banned any form of Generative AI being used by exhibitors, event organisers and others in relation to our event.
We’ve included some links below for reference.