Just over a year after Steam mandated developers disclose any use of artificial intelligence in the making of their games, the latest entry in the biggest video game franchise in the world has confirmed that it uses the divisive technology.The Steam store page for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 now has a clear disclosure for gamers looking to purchase the game. Under the game’s summary text, a warning reads, “Our team uses generative AI tools to help develop some in game assets.”The label confirms what some Call of Duty players have been speculating for months: that low-effort generative AI has been featured prominently across several elements of the game, including unlockable rewards. Players were first tipped off when they noticed a loading screen from the game’s first season featured a zombified Santa Claus with six fingers reaching out. Further inspection of other loading and information screens betrayed the use of AI, as pointed out on Reddit.The most egregious AI use seems to be for a calling card players can earn by performing a finishing move seven times in a single match. The unlockable calling card features a stylized woman with awful-looking hair and oddly-place buckles that serve no discernible function.“I don't deserve to be rewarded with half-hearted soulless fake art after completing a challenge this difficult,” Reddit user Poodonkus wrote four months ago. “Remake this calling card, hell, trace it if you have to. But give us players more respect than this.”This Redditor nails it. It’s one thing to use generative AI for seasonal loading screens that will be used for a limited time. It’s another thing to use it for rewards players are grinding to earn. Based on how blatant some of the flaws are on these assets, it's obvious developers aren’t even mulling over them with a closer eye to iron out issues before they get included in the game.An anonymous employee told Wired last year that Activision was already invested in bringing AI tools into game development. Modern Warfare 3 even sold a cosmetic pack that included AI-generated assets.The Yokai’s Wrath pack, which sells for about $15, uses AI-generated images. | ActivisionThe use of AI in Call of Duty of all games is doubly upsetting when you remember that many 2D artists were among the 1,900 jobs Microsoft cut from Xbox and Activision Blizzard last year following the $69 billion merger. Wired’s anonymous source confirmed that remaining concept artists at Activision’s studios were “forced to use AI to aid in their work” to help keep up with the demands of the job.While I can empathize with artists simply following the orders of their publishers to keep their jobs, there’s no way to excuse the use of AI in a series as big as Call of Duty. The most recent entry had a whopping nine studios involved in assembling the final product (one we quite liked by the way). It’s offensive that any part of these multi-million dollar productions, no matter how inconsequential to the experience, would cut corners at the expense of working developers. When the series continues to sell premium content for exorbitant prices, its publisher should have more than enough in their coffers to invest in actual artists to make these cosmetics, especially after firing its salaried ones.The warning on Steam is a decent start, but not transparent enough in my opinion. The franchise has already included AI assets in paid rewards in past games, which means it will continue to happen (if it hasn’t already). Rather than an unspecific, catch-all on a store page that only a fraction of its users will see, all items in-game items should divulge whether AI was used to create it. Because I’d be pretty upset if I went out of my way to invest time and money unlocking or buying something that cost the company very little money and human creativity to make.Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.