AI Etiquette: Lessons from the Gaming Industry
In this AI Etiquette series, LegisLogiq explores how AI is being deployed across industries — from gaming to fashion to public policy. Real-world use cases spotlight where AI elevates creativity, where it erodes trust, and where it’s just plain sloppy. The goal? To inform, critique, and inspire more intentional, human-centered adoption.
AI is no longer just a developmental tool, but embedded in every strategic roadmap, serving as both a creative accelerant and reputational risk. Consider Fortnite, which earned over $5.8 billion in revenue in 2024, using an AI-generated voice of the late James Earl Jones, or Vogue, which featured virtual models in its editorial spreads. These choices draw a line between innovation and insensitivity. In today’s climate, if AI deployment misses the mark, the internet won’t hesitate to point it out.
When executed well, AI can expand workflows. It supports idea generation, enables deep research, and allows leaner teams to compete with larger ones. The creative potential is undeniable. Smaller startups can produce investor-ready mockups or create entire campaigns from scratch with tools once reserved for major studios. Yet alongside innovation, there is growing concern about careless implementation and its consequences. The creative sector, long defined by human expression, now sits at a crossroads: one path leads to AI as a tool for empowerment, the other to its misuse as a substitute for talent, judgment, and care.
There is a growing tension between what AI makes possible and what, or who, it displaces. The problem isn’t the tool itself, but how it’s used. When automation moves faster than accountability, what results is quiet erosion in the cover of innovation.
X Marks the Problem
In July 2025, the Trump administration issued a series of executive orders on AI. One, titled “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure,” slashed regulations and encouraged the use of federally owned land for rapid AI infrastructure development.
That same month, Microsoft announced plans to lay off over 4% of its workforce, more than 9,000 employees, shortly after revealing an $80 billion investment in AI data centers and cutting entire internal Xbox design teams. What followed was a LinkedIn post from Xbox Graphics Principal Development Lead Mike Matsel. In it, he promoted open design roles using a poorly generated AI image. The post went viral for the wrong reasons. Commenters questioned whether it was satire or an act of defiance. Either way, the message was clear: AI was replacing artists, not supporting them.
Screenshot of the now-deleted LinkedIn post from Xbox Graphics Principal Development Lead Mike Matsel
Designers, artists, and developers condemned the move. On Reddit, users called the post tactless and emblematic of a company that prioritized cost-cutting over creative value. Shortly after, another Xbox executive suggested using AI to help with the “emotional load” of layoffs, which again, was subsequently deleted.
These aren’t just small PR blunders, it’s a lack of understanding impact and real world implications when rushing towards automation without proper guardrails. Especially in crisis communication, where timing and tone matter just as much as the message itself. These types of rollouts have created widespread skepticism among professionals who once viewed AI as a neutral or even promising tool. Instead, it is increasingly seen as a proxy for devaluation.
Small Studios, Big Risks
While major corporations continue to find balance between stumbling through public AI blunders and innovation, smaller companies are embracing AI to stay competitive. In gaming, developers are using AI to generate environments, animate characters, and test code; cutting costs and production timelines dramatically. These tools have opened the door for independent developers to compete with major publishers on a scale never seen before.
While the chart shows impressive market cap growth across major gaming companies as of June 2025, with Nintendo more than doubling in value and Roblox approaching a $70B valuation, these numbers may not reflect long-term stability. Much of this growth has been driven by aggressive AI integration and investor hype around automation. But without guardrails, these short-term gains risk long-term backlash. If consumers begin to associate generative content with creative erosion or if legal disputes over synthetic assets escalate, these inflated valuations could deflate just as quickly. In an industry where reputation drives loyalty, valuation without trust is a fragile win.
In theory, access to AI levels the playing field. In practice, it raises the stakes. Smaller studios often lack legal counsel, communications teams, or crisis infrastructure as their giant counterparts. If they deploy AI poorly, like using an LLM-trained asset that violates copyright, they’re unlikely to survive the blowback. Unlike larger firms, indie teams don’t get a second chance or have the capital to keep up with excessive legal fees.
This is why education and infrastructure are as critical as the tools themselves. AI adoption should be paired with proper guardrails, not just flashy capabilities. Basic AI literacy training, risk audits before deployment, and transparency protocols are no longer optional. That’s why education and infrastructure matter.
The Rise of AI Interns
A fintech employee recently shared on Reddit that her company laid off its entire design team and replaced them with “AI interns” – junior staff expected to rely exclusively on AI tools. The shift wasn’t limited to staffing. It included policy changes like fewer hires, lower wages, and a pipeline where design work was executed by algorithm.
This trend is more dangerous than it appears. The title “AI intern” suggests experimentation or support, but in reality, it’s a euphemism for removing experience from the room. AI-generated work is only as strong as the person reviewing it. When those reviewers are underpaid, underskilled, or overwhelmed, quality is compromised and risk begins to grow.
These risks go beyond output. Internally, morale sinks when creative professionals are told their years of craft can be replaced by prompts. Externally, audiences are getting sharper at spotting AI-generated content. From the gratuitous use of em-dashes to the same overused AI visual tropes, it doesn’t take a media critic to know when something feels cheap. And once people see a brand as phoning it in, they rarely change their mind. Let’s be clear: AI isn’t the villain, its unregulated and careless implementation is.
What Responsible AI Looks Like
Responsible AI deployment starts with intention. Without it, even the most advanced tools become liabilities. When AI enhances human expertise, it creates leverage; closing capacity gaps, supporting overextended teams, and enabling more ambitious projects. When it replaces emotional intelligence, nuance, or taste, the damage compounds. Inside the organization, it erodes culture. Outside, it erodes trust.
Responsible doesn’t mean slow – it means structured. At LegisLogiq, we advise clients to move quickly but intentionally, with clear frameworks that scale as adoption grows. Without them, speed becomes recklessness, and the wrong deployment can undo years of brand equity overnight.
Here’s what responsible AI etiquette looks like:
Audit for Impact
Identify who benefits, who’s displaced, and the real trade-offs before any deployment.
Maintain Human Filters
No AI-generated content (visual, textual, or otherwise) should reach the public without a skilled human review.
Disclose Transparently
Acknowledge AI’s role in creative and strategic output. In an age of skepticism, disclosure builds credibility.
Reinvest in People
Layoffs are not an AI strategy. Upskilling and cross-training employees to work with AI is how companies stay competitive.
Align with Policy
Get ahead of regulation. Synthetic content, likeness rights, and transparency rules are coming, at both state and federal levels.
This isn’t just etiquette, but self-preservation. AI will reshape every industry. The companies that survive won’t be the ones that deploy the fastest, but the ones that deploy with clarity, transparency, and a plan.
The Stakes Are Cultural, Not Just Technical
AI will continue to shape every corner of the creative economy. In gaming, the choices made today will influence how players, creators, and audiences engage for years to come. The same questions about intention, oversight, and trust will surface in every industry that blends technology with human craft.
This series will track those fault lines. The next installment in the AI Etiquette series turns to the fashion industry, where AI is already reshaping design, production, and even the definition of beauty. Like gaming, it faces a choice: use AI to expand possibilities, or use it to cut corners and cheapen the work.
The lesson is consistent across sectors. AI can elevate creativity or erode it. The difference isn’t in the tool, but in the hands that wield it. Workflows can be automated. Values can’t.
At LegisLogiq, we help organizations navigate the fast-moving world of A.I. regulation with clarity, creativity, and foresight. Whether you’re exploring policy compliance, advocacy, or looking to redefine your A.I. strategy, our team is here to help. From messaging guidance to partnership opportunities, contact us and someone from our team will connect with you