The developers of VRChat have created a rift in the virtual platform’s user base after announcing that it would not include labels to categorize AI-generated content, despite around 95% of users asking for some sort of AI filter in a survey.
VRChat is a virtual hub where folks can gather to chat, make their own avatars, and create and play games together. It’s a fairly popular social platform that, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a hotbed for viral moments and hilarious content.
Also unsurprisingly, there’s been a sharp increase in AI-generated content in VRChat, to the point where fans are begging for some sort of distinction as to what has and hasn’t been made by humans.
In fact, the folks behind VRChat recently published a survey asking users for their feedback on the state of the platform. In that survey, “95% of survey respondents want some kind of label for AI usage,” as told in an official blog published on October 28.
Despite this overwhelming majority, the powers that be have decided against moving forward with an AI label, arguing that there’s simply too much disagreement among users as to what, exactly, should be done to delineate such content.
“We’re not adding an ‘AI-generated’ label or AI filters,” the devs said in the blog post. “While we think some creators would honestly label their content, we think others would try to pass off generative or assisted work as completely authored by hand. Likewise, we could see this creating ‘sleuthing’ behavior, where folks would attempt to sniff out ‘AI’ content or might harass other creators, even if they are genuinely not using any AI tools in their workflow. We think this potentially creates negative behavior spirals we don’t want to encourage.”
The statement continued, revealing that respondents gave “3,141 different combinations of labeling,”and that “no single combination was given by more than 10% of respondents.”
Essentially, the team at VRChat feels they need to “understand this a layer deeper before making any kneejerk decisions” — but their explanation hasn’t been well-received by fans.
On social media, dedicated VRChat users are speaking out against this decision, with one writing on X/Twitter, “Then what was the point of the survey if they’re not going to f**king use it to influence decisions?”
“95% of YOUR players said NO to AI content. That isn’t a debatable margin,” another argued.
“The point of having a filter is because we do NOT want to see that content. They are FILTERS for a reason, bruh,” another exasperated user wrote.
Thus far, VRChat has made no official response to this outrage and is continuing to move forward with planned events, leaving users beside themselves as they work to make their voices heard by the platform.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.