Fans remind Danhausen of his anti-AI stance as WWE publicly embraces it

You may have just read something written by a human — specifically our own Jon Velez-Jackson — about independent wrestler Nixi XS’ stance on the use of generative AI by her colleagues on the indie circuit. It wasn’t the main focus of Jon’s article; Nixi’s work with AEW and recent WWE appearance were. But I was still thinking about it when I stumbled across another… situation… that occurred on social media yesterday.

It’s not quite as in-depth or impassioned as Nixi’s posts, but last year Danhausen

took a strong stance on the use of generative AI for creative endeavors on his X account:

Which is something several followers of the red-hot WWE Superstar have been reminding him of after promotion started for his new t-shirt. That shirt, which is based on the mini-hausen army he teamed with to beat The Miz and Kit Wilson at Backlash, hasn’t been proven to be the product of generative AI…

… but in addition to all the folks tweeting his “AI still fucking sucks” take back at WWE Shop, this seems to be a pretty good summary of why those on the lookout for “AI slop” would flag that shirt:

I am by no means an expert on what is or is not the product of generative AI, but the case for this being an example of one makes sense to me. All the news and rumors about how WWE hopes to integrate AI into its creative work supports their arguments, too.

For me, the fact that not even the full grown adult Danhausen on the shirt has an accurate Danhausen facepaint is crap, whether that was the fault of AI or a human artist.

But if indeed the shirt (and possibly the entire graphic) is AI-generated, I can sympathize with Danhausen’s seeming willingness to hold his tongue while he’s bringing in tons of human monies — even as someone whose job and entire career field could cease to exist due to the corporate world’s enthusiastic adoption of AI.

Still bums me out, though.

Share your reaction to Danhausen’s past stance on AI and/or his new merch in the comments below.