Fortnite Chapter 7 kicks off with artist defending their work from AI allegations, probably not helped by Epic CEO's recent prediction that "AI will be involved in nearly all future production" of games

Fortnite's latest season is here, marking the start of the battle royale's seventh chapter, but some players are concerned that certain assets found in the latest update could be AI-generated, a worry that one artist has already responded to to defend their work.

As highlighted across social media, several assets have come under scrutiny – one of which is a poster featuring a yeti who has five toes on one foot and four on the other. "I can't tell if this is AI-generated, but the odd number of toes makes me think so," a Reddit user writes, sharing a screenshot. "I really hope it isn't AI!"

"Certainly looks like it unfortunately," another agrees, while one alleges: "The AI sloppification begins."

Elsewhere, an in-game poster featuring a tomato-headed talk show presenter has also been called into question, with one player asking: "Did Fortnite use AI to make this poster?"

While there hasn't yet been an official response to these AI allegations, one artist has stepped forward after a spray cosmetic he designed came under scrutiny. The spray in question – titled 'Looking McFly' – stars Marty McFly and can be unlocked in the new Battle Pass, and quickly saw players questioning how it was made.

"Am I losing it or does this Fortnite spray look like it was AI-generated?" one player asks, while another writes: "This HAS to be AI, right???" However, in this case, artist Sean Dove says that's not the case.

"I guess someone on Reddit thinks this was AI," he writes in a post on Instagram. "I think the culprit is a clock in the background. I grabbed some clocks off image search, collaged them, and halftoned them. The numbers are bad, entirely possible I grabbed an AI clock an wasn't paying attention."

Backing up his point further, he shares another Instagram post, this time showing the various different layers of the artwork in art software Procreate. "I don't have a Reddit account but just in case people are being weird, here's my procreate layers," he adds.

Regardless of the accuracy of the AI accusations, it's little wonder that players are applying a little extra scrutiny to Fortnite right now following recent comments made by Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney. The CEO has recently been calling for the removal of Steam's "AI tag" – the disclosure added onto games on Steam that make it clear if AI was used in the development of a title, and if so, in what ways. He stated that "it makes no sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in nearly all future production," and later doubled down, adding: "I just hate to see Valve confiscate ever more opportunity from small developers by facilitating new categories, cancel campaigns, and review bombing."

We've reached out to Epic Games to ask if AI was used to generate any assets in Fortnite Chapter 7: Season 1, and will update this article if we receive a response.

Old copy of Fortnite from before it went free-to-play sells for $42,500, and while you might think that's weird, remember that the person who bought it probably won't play it anyway.