AI at Knott’s Berry Farm
Most people will say that as long as it gets the job done, then who gives a damn whether AI is used. But to many who are fascinated by the work and creativity that goes into theme parks, it does sadden me that in reality, Knott’s has chosen to cut corners with so much of its art.
At the end of the day, do I expect guests to be aware of this? No, because I’ve already seen a handful wearing the AI generated shirt designs from Boysenberry Fest and Xcelerator. I don’t necessarily hold it against them for buying them because it’s a quick purchase, it’s another souvenir to take home, and no one really has the eye to hyper-analyze the designs themselves on a hot spring/summer day.
That said, some more egregious uses of AI have been found in the bakery’s cakes of all things. By egregious, I mean they can’t be bothered to Photoshop or remove the left and right arrows from the image they ripped straight off of Facebook.
But even right down to its promotions for Scary Farm—hell, even the Associate Party, it used to be so much fun hiring artists who have the skills to make graphics for these events. But truth be told, Knott’s hasn’t hired for those positions in years. They don’t feel the need to design for events like these because it’s longer necessary, especially when AI simply gets the point across.
Is it heartbreaking? Yeah. Will they do anything about it? No, because as long as Six Flags remains in the financial state it is, corners will be cut across all the parks they own.
The reason why I wanted to write this post is because of the genuine, heartfelt discussions I’ve had with people who want to work a theme park job, the same crowd who feel inspired by the work that’s put into these events, and hope to land artsy positions at places like Knott’s. But the harsh reality is that corporations will do anything not to pay their artists, who they already consider the lowest priority in the industry.
The role of AI isn’t creating new ideas—all it serves right now is churning out as much as possible with little as possible. But as I’ve said, I don’t think that’ll stop businesses from using it as long as it gets the job done. Maybe guests will be more wary of what gets put out in stores, but from what I’ve seen, it’s just not that important of a concern to them.