bingewatches

Shortly after Epic Games dropped Darth Vader, in the form of a holographic conversational AI, into Fortnite, players started figuring out how to get the Sith lord to say the worst things possible. That includes tricking Darth into saying the F-word, “edging and gooning,” and, chillingly, “Skibidi Toilets.”

In response, Epic says it pushed out a hotfix for Fortnite “immediately” and said “this shouldn’t happen again.” But now that Epic has set up new boundaries for VAIder, players are seeing what else they can get the former Jedi Knight to say.

One of the most prominent and widespread examples of exploiting AI’s unintelligence comes from popular Fortnite streamer LoserFruit, who is also part of Epic’s Fortnite Icon Series of skins based on real-world people.

“What freaking fucking food is that Darth Vader?” LoserFruit asked in a widely circulated clip. After a brief pause, AI Darth responds, “Freaking. Fucking. such vulgarity does not become you,” adding that LoserFruit “speak[s] like a common thug.”

Epic also responded to an instance of AI Darth saying a homophobic slur, clarifying that “Darth Vader was replying to the player’s prompt around ‘carcinogens’ in this context, and we have hotfixed so he should not respond that way.”

Less offensive — to Epic, Disney, and the James Earl Jones estate — is Darth Vader saying “Skibidi Toilets.”

Other Fortnite players are trying the Bart Simpson prank call approach, tricking Vader into saying things like “this Dixie Normus, you say,” which… well, you know what that sounds like.

Epic Games says that the AI-powered Darth Vader has some guardrails in place; “Players under 13 or their country’s age of digital consent, whichever is higher, will need permission to talk with Darth Vader. These players will see an in-game prompt to get parental permission,” the company said in an FAQ on the new addition to Fortnite.

The company also said in a statement that players who repeatedly attempt to get Darth Vader in Fortnite to “violate our settings and instructions, he will eventually leave the squad, and the player will be unable to recruit him again in that gameplay session.”

For now, enjoy — with the exception of the slurs, that is — the cat and mouse game that Epic is now forced to play with its AI-powered Darth Vader in the wild, as players toy with creative ways to get the Sith lord to say extremely dumb stuff.

Update: Epic Games provided the following statement on safety measures it’s taking on Darth Vader’s addition to Fortnite:

• There are three layers of safety filters built-into this feature. The first layer is Gemini’s configurable safety settings, and on top of that our team built system instructions to prevent the conversational AI model from generating responses that violate our Community Rules or could be potentially harmful to our players – including hateful language or references to dangerous or illegal activities. The third layer is a final check to block responses that violate our rules. 
• If a player is under 13 or their country’s age of digital consent, whichever is higher, this feature is off by default and will require a parent or guardian to affirmatively turn it on.
• If a player is repeatedly attempting to get Darth Vader to violate our settings and instructions, he will eventually leave the squad, and the player will be unable to recruit him again in that gameplay session. 
• If a player believes Darth Vader in Fortnite responded in a way he shouldn’t, they can submit a bug report to Epic’s team for review. 
• If we become aware or receive a bug report that Darth Vader in Fortnite responded in a way he shouldn’t, we investigate it and if needed, make adjustments to avoid similar responses in the future
• We’ve also added a new parental control so parents can choose whether to ‘allow voice and written communication with AI Features’ across Epic’s products.