Sega is facing backlash after a recent Sonic the Hedgehog alternate-reality game – a sort of marketing campaign that takes place online – was revealed to be training AI models on participant data.

The Chaos Hunt ARG was revealed earlier this week and is a celebratory event for the 35th anniversary of the series. Players in the US are tasked with hunting down several Chaos Emeralds to win exclusive prizes as more are discovered.

It’s unclear how exactly this works, but the terms and conditions for the ARG reveal some additional details. It sounds like you can download the ARG to take part and scan QR codes in certain locations across the US, including Venice Beach and Chicago.

But some curious fans dug around and discovered that when you attempt to “join the hunt” on the official website, it opens a registration box to enter your details. And in the small text on this box is a disclaimer that you must consent to a company called Community’s terms and conditions – and here’s where the AI bit comes in.

Community is the marketing company at the heart of this Chaos Hunt activation, and its terms and conditions state that user data it receives “may be used to train and enhance our proprietary AI models”. It also discloses that this user data may be used by third-party AI models, though it does emphasise that an effort is being made to prevent people’s personal data being shared.

The reaction to this revelation has been negative. “Pretty sure Sonic is meant to be against AI training like this but aight,” writes BestJonRobEver on X. RikoandTako echoes this sentiment: “Can companies please stop trying to weave AI into everything? Even for an Easter Egg hunt we’re getting AI involved?”

Others, however, have largely accepted this as a reality of such campaigns in this day and age. Terminator0245 who wrote: “Log off twitter then since this site is doing the exact same thing.”

While generative AI remains a controversial technology in the west for a variety of reasons, people in other countries such as Japan (where Sega is headquartered) and South Korea don’t seem to share the same concerns as audiences in America or Europe. Only time will tell if AI will slowly evaporate from such marketing beats.