To promote an all-new haunted house, Kennywood has admitted to Theme Park Tribune that it is using images generated by artificial intelligence tools rather than original concept art or designs.
The West Mifflin, Pennsylvania park sent out a press release Monday morning to promote the new house, called Detached, for its upcoming Phantom Fall Fest event for the Halloween season. Kennywood described Detached as “the park’s most terrifying haunt to date.”
However, Reddit sleuths quickly flagged that the promotional images for Detached appeared to be AI-generated. Theme Park Tribune independently ran the same images through the AI image detectors Decopy and Sightengine, which said the images were AI-generated with between 99 and 100 percent certainty.
Kennywood spokesperson Lynsey Winters confirmed the use of AI in an email to Theme Park Tribune. Winters said of the images: “These were created by our creative agency of record and yes, they did use AI to generate. The park will be sharing more photos soon but as the haunt comes together, this is what is currently available.” (Winters did not say which creative agency Kennywood was using.)
The use of AI tools have been an increasing source of controversy in entertainment and creative fields. Major media companies are suing AI photo generators, alleging such tools steal copyrighted material and online creators and fans have often likened AI-generated content to theft.
Its defenders, especially in the film industry, have countered with arguments that the technology can be used ethically and expands access to creative tools.
The theme park world has not been immune to this debate. Disney has been accused of using AI-generated art both in promotional materials and decorations at Disneyland. AI images have also been used to spread false information, such as when Russian state media posted fake photos purportedly showing a flooded Magic Kingdom after Hurricane Milton last October.