In a world where brain rot and ChatGPT run the internet, one would think that a university would help foster and support imagination and creativity. But Wichita State has done just the opposite.
A trend of turning people into action figures using artificial intelligence has taken the internet by storm. Making people into action figure starter packs is merely a mild wave in a broader ocean of generative AI selfie trends. As the trend gathered momentum, I had hoped Wichita State would stray from the herd.
Instead, on April 10, WSU’s Rhatigan Student Center social media account posted what was most likely meant to be a lighthearted and fun post depicting the RSC’s directors as action figures. But the collectible directors were clearly created with AI. The images have an odd quality to them that screams computer-generated.
Real student illustrators could have offered so much more than AI did to WSU’s rendition of this trend. Some of the images in the AI versions are distorted and give an uncanny valley feel. If real people had been used to create the artworks, the university could have avoided putting out creepy images. It just would have looked better, physically and morally.
People in the RSC’s Instagram comments also noticed the obvious AI usage. A majority of the comments call out the account and admonish the RSC for using computers to create a project that should have — and very easily could have — been created by human hands.
On April 14, Wichita State Admissions’ social media accounts posted their own version of the starter pack trend posts, but this time it depicted WuShock as the action figure. Once again, AI was obviously used in the creation of the post. The comments under the post call out the university’s account for using AI.
The idea that the university I chose to study at used AI, when it has nearly unlimited access to the artists who attend, is abhorrent.
By posting images using AI, not once but twice, the people who run the accounts — and by proxy the university — are spitting in the face of the artists who attend WSU. The student artists paying tuition are passionate and would have jumped on the opportunity to make silly art for the official university accounts on Instagram.
Ceshen Martinez Goldworm, an animation major, said she “hates AI” and doesn’t understand why the university didn’t hire an illustrator from campus.
“I think they could have literally asked any faculty or student if they would want to,” Martinez Goldworm said. “I’m pretty sure we have an art club, so I don’t know why they wouldn’t just commission the art club.”
The university, which brags about being a campus that offers hands-on experience to its students, denies artists that very opportunity to utilize their talents.
Not only does it look bad for the university to deny artists an outlet to create art, but AI also impacts the environment negatively. According to the UN Environment Programme, AI uses rare critical minerals and elements and large supplies of water, leading to increased electrical usage and a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
While WSU isn’t the sole contributor to global warming, it certainly doesn’t help future generations when an academic institution gets behind a wasteful and lazy trend.
By using AI to participate in a silly trend, Wichita State hurt Shocker artists and the world we live in. I strongly urge Wichita State to reconsider their use of AI in the future, lest we discourage creativity in students fully.
