After some controversy, the developers baldur's gate 3 Creator Larian Studios has further clarified its use of generative AI. CEO Swen Vincke and other Larian developers held an AMA on Reddit to answer user questions about the team's next title. divinity. They also answered questions related to reports that the studio is using generative AI in its development process.
“First of all, there will be no GenAI art in Divinity,” Vincke said in response to a question on Reddit. In an interview last month, bloombergalthough Vincke did not use any AI-generated assets. divinitythe team was experimenting with AI tools to “explore ideas, flesh out PowerPoint presentations, develop concept art, and create placeholder text.”
His comments were quickly criticized online by gamers, developers, and former Larian employees. In response, Wincke issued a statement clarifying that the tool is not being used to generate concept art, but as something that artists can use to iterate on ideas more quickly.
Now, in a Reddit AMA, he says he doesn't use it for concept art at all. “We decided to refrain from using the genAI tool during concept art development,” he wrote. “Then you can't argue about the origin of the art.” However, Vincke left room for future use of generational AI assets.
“When we use a GenAI model to create an in-game asset, it is trained on data that we own,” he wrote.
In addition to art, Larian also clarified the use of Gen AI through text. “We do not perform any text generation that affects dialogue, diaries, or other writing in Divinity,” writes writing director Adam Smith. He said the text generation was for research purposes only, not development purposes, and that the quality of the results was too low compared to human writers and Larian's own standards.
“We have experimented with text-generating tools in limited groups, and the results have been at best 3/10,” Smith wrote. “Even my worst first drafts…are at least 4/10…and even on individual lines, the amount of iterations required to reach the quality we want is huge.”
While these comments may at least reassure players that Generation AI assets won't be included in the final product, Vinke reaffirmed that Generation AI will still play some role in Larian.
“Our hope is that this will allow us to refine ideas faster, resulting in more focused development cycles, less waste, and ultimately higher quality games.”
