The First Descendant's under fire for using uncanny AI ads claiming it's "the world's most popular shooter RPG," and at least one of them seems to imitate an actual streamer

A screenshot of Valby in The First Descendant.
(Image credit: Nexon)

Nier Automata's 2B isn't the only artificial intelligence now associated with looter shooter The First Descendant, which is being accused of advertising the game via AI-generated ads mimicking real people.

Redditor iHardlyTriHard compiled four of these seemingly AI-generated TikTok clips that they say took them 15 minutes of scrolling to find, along with two others that appear to only use AI voice over. Most of the tell-tale signs are very obvious, too, like the wonky lip sync and uncanny voices.

"It's really a kick in the teeth to [The First Descendant] content creators for them to be using AI for ads like this instead of actual content creators, especially since Nexon Creators has over 8.8k people signed up to it," the post added.

I'll let you decide the ethics of promoting a game using the glowing praise of literally fake people that declare The First Descendant is "one of the world's most popular shooter RPGs," but the game's also been under fire because one of the clips seemingly clones content creator DanieltheDemon. It's unclear if he was involved with the ads in any way, though. (Good spot, Eurogamer.)

"Honestly it's embarrassing," another Reddit comment reads."I genuinely believe they ads will actually hurt the game because anyone who was maybe half interested in checking it out would see these and think not a f**king chance."

The First Descendant's no stranger to controversy, though. At launch, the game had to remove a bunch of icons that it was accused of ripping off from Destiny 2 after lots of backlash.

Former PlayStation boss says "the impact of AI on gaming" is basically the same "as the impact of Excel on certified public accountants" as "you still had to have enough knowledge"

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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