🔗 Share this article The Creators of Baldur's Gate 3 Clarifies Its Use of AI Tools for New Divinity The developer behind hit role-playing games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just teased its next major project, generating significant excitement within the player base. However, recent comments from the company's figurehead have added a new dimension to the discussion, touching on the developer's stance toward machine learning. A Tool for Ideation, Not Replacement In a latest message, Swen Vincke detailed that the team is using machine learning for certain supporting tasks. These involve fleshing out presentation materials, generating initial visual ideas, and drafting draft text. Importantly, Vincke stressed that the shipping assets in the game will be authored entirely by real artists. "We are creating every line in-house," he said. We are constantly growing our team of concept artists and are currently assembling narrative groups. Since visual development is being particularly called out — we presently have twenty-three artistic staff and have job openings for additional creatives. All our efforts we do is incremental and aimed at enabling creatives to spend additional energy on making content. Every machine learning application applied correctly is supplementary to a developer's workflow, never a stand-in for their talent. Addressing Concerns and Clarifying the Vision The revelation of AI usage initially generated backlash among a segment of the fanbase. In reply, Vincke issued further detail on public forums. "At Larian, we employ AI tools to explore references, similar to we use the internet and physical media," he stated. "During the conceptual ideation stages we use it as a simple sketch for structure which we then replace with authentic illustrations." He added, "We've hired artists for their creative vision, not for their capacity to follow what a AI generates." Key Areas of AI Integration Vincke had earlier detailed the team's targeted strategy to AI and ML, categorizing its use into primary areas: Streamlining Repetitive Work: This includes refining animations, dialogue cleanup, and technical processes like retargeting animations. Fast-Tracked Experimentation: Using systems to quickly build rough models of gameplay ideas to experiment with concepts prior to expensive development. Future Potential for Gameplay: Exploring how AI could one day facilitate new forms of player agency, specifically in managing dynamic reactions in a vast role-playing world. He explicitly affirmed that central narrative disciplines — including music composition — are are in no way fields where the company is cutting human input. On the contrary, Larian is expanding its staff in these exact roles. "We are neither shipping a game with machine-made assets, and we are certainly not considering cutting teams to swap them out with AI," Vincke concluded.
The developer behind hit role-playing games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just teased its next major project, generating significant excitement within the player base. However, recent comments from the company's figurehead have added a new dimension to the discussion, touching on the developer's stance toward machine learning. A Tool for Ideation, Not Replacement In a latest message, Swen Vincke detailed that the team is using machine learning for certain supporting tasks. These involve fleshing out presentation materials, generating initial visual ideas, and drafting draft text. Importantly, Vincke stressed that the shipping assets in the game will be authored entirely by real artists. "We are creating every line in-house," he said. We are constantly growing our team of concept artists and are currently assembling narrative groups. Since visual development is being particularly called out — we presently have twenty-three artistic staff and have job openings for additional creatives. All our efforts we do is incremental and aimed at enabling creatives to spend additional energy on making content. Every machine learning application applied correctly is supplementary to a developer's workflow, never a stand-in for their talent. Addressing Concerns and Clarifying the Vision The revelation of AI usage initially generated backlash among a segment of the fanbase. In reply, Vincke issued further detail on public forums. "At Larian, we employ AI tools to explore references, similar to we use the internet and physical media," he stated. "During the conceptual ideation stages we use it as a simple sketch for structure which we then replace with authentic illustrations." He added, "We've hired artists for their creative vision, not for their capacity to follow what a AI generates." Key Areas of AI Integration Vincke had earlier detailed the team's targeted strategy to AI and ML, categorizing its use into primary areas: Streamlining Repetitive Work: This includes refining animations, dialogue cleanup, and technical processes like retargeting animations. Fast-Tracked Experimentation: Using systems to quickly build rough models of gameplay ideas to experiment with concepts prior to expensive development. Future Potential for Gameplay: Exploring how AI could one day facilitate new forms of player agency, specifically in managing dynamic reactions in a vast role-playing world. He explicitly affirmed that central narrative disciplines — including music composition — are are in no way fields where the company is cutting human input. On the contrary, Larian is expanding its staff in these exact roles. "We are neither shipping a game with machine-made assets, and we are certainly not considering cutting teams to swap them out with AI," Vincke concluded.