Players have returned to Animal Crossing: New Horizons after the popular game got a massive update on Jan 15, but with them came AI edits, and not everyone is happy about them.
While many players posted traditional screenshots of their islands and characters' homes, others used AI tools to modify the screenshots to make them appear more "realistic."
Players use AI for Animal Crossing aesthetic images
People have always shared screenshots of their designs in games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, where players can fully customize the world to their aesthetic. While players did minor edits to their screenshots in the past, such as altering colors or upping the contrast to make the images pop, those edits were noted and largely accepted by the community.
One of the additions to ACNH in the 3.0 update was a dockside hotel where players could stage rooms for guests. It also added many more items for players to choose from to add to the rooms.
The downside of all these new features, however, is that people began putting their creations through AI to enhance lighting and realism, as noted by Polygon's report about AI use by fans of the game.
While the act of editing itself isn’t new, the method is vastly different, and many gaming fans complained about the lack of creativity behind the edits. They are also upset that, often, the people putting their images through AI chatbots hid the fact that they were doing it.
ACNH fans reacted strongly to the trend
The conversation around AI usage in the fandom took off with X user @cozyberru. They tweeted, "I think it’s time we talk about the AI use in Animal Crossing aesthetic posts that are trending." The post included examples of images that showed odd visual artifacts and details.
They followed up a tweet with some examples of what to look for when considering if an edit is made with AI.
Complaints about the use of AI quickly piled up. One reply read, "It's crazy how much the games about creativity and expressing yourself attract the AI crowd."
Some fans argued the edits were unnecessary, especially given that there are plenty of photo editing software that don't use AI and are user-friendly. At the same time, others felt realism stripped the game’s charm.
"Cute, cartoonish visuals are actually the appeal of Animal Crossing," tweeted @lukichiban. "Using AI to 'enhance' it, especially with more realistic lighting, just misses the whole point, like, why do you even like Animal Crossing. 😇🙏"
"Just fell down to my knees at Walmart.... not my inspos being AI. 🤕 can't y'all just say it with ur whole chest if u use AI so ppl can avoid it," @siveane tweeted.
Meanwhile, @arakinskywalker posted their own builds, saying, "Mine may not be as pretty, but at least they're not AI!!! 🫶🏽"
Anger sometimes spilled over. @EggieVille tweeted, "You have to be a massive [expletive] loser to have NO CREATIVITY WHATSOEVER."
Others shared past experiences. "I used to be in an Animal Crossing Facebook group a year ago, and omg the amount of AI slop that was there…" @Gh0stFactory wrote, noting it often got deleted.
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