The new edition of A Feast For Crows (the fourth book in the A Song Of Ice And Fire series, which is the inspiration behind the Game Of Thrones television show) was released earlier this month and quickly kicked up controversy. On top of what fans felt were tell-tale signs of AI (odd background details like distorted windows, silhouettes that seem to walk on water, animals with strange anatomy, armor that appears inaccurate, etc.), the art doesn’t seem to reflect the actual world of Westeros. As collated on Reddit, Lannisters are depicted wearing blue rather than red (the horror!), art of Tywin doesn’t match his character’s description (he has hair, rather than being bald), and Victarion is shown with two swords rather than an axe and a shield. In some cases, the Game Of Thrones die-hards have also accused the artist of copying well-known fan art.
On Instagram, the artist Jeffrey R. McDonald stated, “For the record I do not use AI.” He did not address all the particular concerns piling up in his comments (though he did explain that a background detail fans thought was a Christian cross was just a sconce). However, he noted that “all images go through a team or director for approval. Some things are added, subtracted or redesigned in this process.”
Martin has not weighed in personally beyond sharing the Penguin Random House statement to his blog. The author happens to currently be involved in a high-profile lawsuit with several other writers against OpenAI for illegally training ChatGPT on their copyrighted works. In an interview with WinterIsComing.net, Martin acknowledged that the tech was probably here to stay, but stressed the need for regulations. “I don’t know what rules they’ll have but they have to have some kind of rules. If they have no rules, and things like the AI companies are just free to help themselves to anything they want, then I think we got a real problem because, you know, unlike AI authors need to eat and occasionally buy a house to live in and so forth,” he said.
“In some ways, as challenging as it is for authors, I think the most immediate crisis will be for actors and artists. I mean, the artists are already getting it with AI [book] covers,” the Game Of Thrones mastermind said, adding that “there are other lawsuits that are being filed by other people that could cover the actors and the illustrators and things like that. So it’s a bold new world…but who will come out of it, and what will the rules be? I don’t know.”
