Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke and the creative team recently engaged in an AMA on Reddit, addressing the studio’s upcoming Divinity title and its position on generative AI. In response to a fan inquiry regarding AI's role in game development, Vincke made it clear: "There is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity." This assertion emerges amidst ongoing debates about the ethical use of AI in creative fields, especially given past controversies surrounding projects that included AI-generated assets.
One such incident involved the RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which faced backlash that resulted in rescinded Indie Game Awards after it was revealed that AI-generated materials were utilized, violating established anti-AI practices despite later revisions. During the AMA, Vincke conceded that previous discussions regarding experimenting with AI tools had caused some confusion. To clarify, Larian has committed to completely avoiding generative AI in concept art for Divinity, ensuring transparency about the origins of the artwork.
As Vincke elaborated, “We've decided to refrain from using genAI tools during concept-art development. That way, there can be no discussion about the origin of the art.” He emphasized that while they aim to improve development speed through various methods, any AI model would solely be based on Larian's owned data.
When fans pressed further about whether this anti-AI stance extended beyond concept art to include writing, writing director Adam Smith confirmed, “The stance applies to writing as well. We don't have any text generation touching our dialogues, journal entries, or other writing in Divinity.” He illustrated past attempts with AI text generation yielded subpar results, indicating little benefit in using those tools.
Vincke had previously discussed using machine-learning tools solely for streamlining menial tasks in an effort to enhance workflow efficiency. With no definitive release date for Divinity yet announced, Larian is under significant pressure to excel following the success of Baldur's Gate 3.
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