the dead pixel
The goal of this game is to portray the dread that comes with realizing the images and memories you thought were real are not what you thought they were. This can be received in a variety of ways, speaking to you on a level I could have never imagined, but I made this game thinking intentionally about the dangers of AI.
The narrative of this game is a reflection of how clues to identify AI-generated images are disappearing. We are living in an age where we must question if the images and text we see online are real or not, which leads to the distrust of nearly everyone and every media source we interact with online. At any given time, we don’t know how much of our feed, our news, or even images shared in a family group chat are AI-generated. In the future, it’s possible that AI-generated images of ourselves, friends, and family could be printed and perceived as a real photo that was taken in the past. What are we to do with these false memories? How will we perceive ourselves once our histories have been clogged by false events and images? If we let AI write our emails and speeches, take our photos and videos, create our fictions and histories, how will we maintain a sense of self?
further description
I was inspired by the concept of the dead pixel from the horror adventure game, Mouthwashing.
Mouthwashing Spoilers
In the game, there is a scene where the only female character, Anya, is having a night-time chat with another character, Curly, in front of a large screen depicting the moon. She mentions that there is a dead pixel in the upper right corner of the screen, but Curly cannot see it. They both enjoy the image, but while the dead pixel reminds Anya that it isn’t real, Curly does not have that same understanding. It is also during this scene that the player realizes that Anya was raped by another character, a friend of Curly’s, and that despite every opportunity to realize this or to even notice the warning signs that his friend was violent, Curly remained ignorant. This ignorance ultimately led to the downfall of every character in the game. The image of the dead pixel, a small break in simulated reality, reminds me of artifacts present in many AI-generated images. AI artifacts are mistakes in an image or video that would not be there if it was human created or taken. For example, an extra finger on a hand or illegible text. However, very quickly, AI has evolved to be nearly indistinguishable from human created work. We are in danger of AI getting better and better at fooling us into thinking the images and text it generates are genuine. We are being forced to doubt the reality of everything we see or read. To keep ourselves from becoming Curly, ignorant to danger, we must be wary of what we see and stop ourselves and those close to us from falling into the trap AI companies are setting for us. It is necessary for us as individuals to push back against generative AI use in our daily lives while companies steamroll new features and regulative laws fail to keep pace. We can reclaim the term “Luddite”, originally persons who protested factory machinery and low wages at the end of the industrial revolution, which has become synonymous with persons who blindly reject new technology. However, as “new Luddites”, we can honor the originators by recognizing the concentration of power by tech giants, call out wage and position slashes, and criticize the purpose of AI in our workplaces, schools, and personal lives.
In making this game, I hope to honor James Baldwin’s words in his essay, “The Creative Process” (1962): “the precise role of the artist…is to illuminate that darkness…so that we will not, in all our doing, lose sight of its purpose, which is, after all, to make the world a more human dwelling place”. The goal of an artist is not to generate an appealing or “artsy” image, like generate-AI companies would like to make us believe. The goal of an artist is to hold a mirror up to society in a way that forces us to question our narrative, our humanity, and our reasons for pursuing either.
If you read this far and this description seems really intense for a bitsy game that takes two minutes to play it’s because I made this for a grad school final project with an accompanying essay lol I appreciate you taking the time to read allat <3
bitsy hacks used
pixsy
Comments
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I really appreciate the extra context in the description. I'm also working on Bitsy games for my MFA - so cool to find someone else doing that
That's so cool! what kind of games are you making?
This was incredible.
The use of sound was impeccable and the overall look was beautiful.
The story is incredibly relevant and I WILL be playing this again!
Thank you so much! I almost didn't add sound - i'm so glad i did
perfect game, the narrative is clear and I loved how you used sound, it really creates that psychological horror atmosphere, great work!
thank you so much! this means so much coming from a creator i've followed for so long!