George RR Martin’s publisher denied accusations that some of the artwork in the new illustrated edition of A Feast for Crows was created using AI.
Penguin Random House released the 20th anniversary edition of the fourth instalment in Martin’s beloved epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire earlier this month, featuring illustrations by artist Jeffery R McDonald.
It was touted as a premium collector’s edition but immediately invited backlash, with fans pointing out what they believed to be tell-tale signs of AI-generated art like odd background details, repetitive textures and anomalous anatomy.
In a statement posted on social media as well as on Martin’s own blog, Not a Blog, a spokesperson for the publisher denied the allegations and claimed “no AI was used”.
“My name is Raya Golden and I manage the art direction and licensing development here at Fevre River working closely with GRRM as his schedule will allow. But I alone am responsible for approving all the licensed art that accompanies our SOI&F book driven materials,” the statement read. “Recently, there have been accusations floating around that the Penguin Random House’s illustrated edition of A Feast For Crows was produced using AI generative art.”
“To our knowledge and as presented by the artist who completed the work in question there was NO such programming used. While he is a digital multimedia artist and relies on digital programming to complete his work, he has expressed unequivocally that no AI was used, and we believe him,” the statement added. “The official word from our office is, of course, that we DO NOT, never have and will not willingly work with AI generative artists in any way shape or form.”
The Independent has reached out to representatives for Martin, Penguin Random House, and McDonald for comment.
Over the past week, fans on X and Reddit have been discussing the cover and pointing out elements supposedly made by AI.
One fan on Reddit made a list that included “lack of banners and heraldry throughout”, illustration of Lady Stoneheart closely resembling a fan’s artwork and the existence of a “Christian cross”.
“Other people have noticed weird hands and feet and clothing not being consistent, among other things,” the fan wrote.
Martin, who has previously called AI “the world’s most expensive and energy-intensive plagiarism machine”, is one of 17 authors who have filed a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft in a US federal court. The suit, supported by the Authors Guild, alleges that the tech companies used copyrighted works, including by Martin, without permission to train generative AI models such as ChatGPT.
The author recently addressed the delay in releasing the sixth book in his planned seven-book series, saying he was still invested in the story and did not “feel happy” about missing his deadlines.
Between 1996 and 2011, the author published five books in the fantasy series, which were adapted into the hit HBO TV show Game of Thrones. Martin started working on The Winds of Winter in 2010 but is yet to complete it. The author says he has struggled to find “solace” in his writing.
“I know there’s all this controversy about Winds Of Winter and how late it is but I have always had trouble with deadlines and I don’t feel happy breaching contracts or missing a deadline or anything like that,” he said at New York Comic Con in October, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“Yes, I do love Winds of Winter. I’m still interested in it, I’m still working on it, but honestly, I love these other things, too.”
