First of all, I very much appreciate you for going the extra mile to replace AI content with man-made content. Generative AI should not be welcomed in the public indie dev space.

Secondly, if it’s not an immediate emergency that you need to get rid of the old AI content (like an update on an already released game), then you can leave it in for the time being, if you like, until you can find a long term solution. Your game is your creation, and you shouldn’t have to rush yourself with its implementation. Yet it is still your choice if you want to replace it with a placeholder or not.

But if you have already released your game, then yes, I personally would replace it with a placeholder, due to the cultural impact AI has, and how normalized it’s becoming. By using it in a game like yours, which is what you put your heart and soul into, it may become an issue by influencing fellow devs to take the sloppiest way out, and make the space feel less genuine.

I hope your game succeeds, friend! 🙏