Larian Studios walks back AI for concept art after Divinity backlash, sets ethical boundaries

Baldur's Gate 3 studio says it won't use AI for concept art or writing

Following some controversy, the developers at Baldur's Gate 3 creator Larian Studios have further clarified their use of generative AI. CEO Swen Vincke and other Larian developers held an AMA on Reddit where they answered users' questions about the team's next title, Divinity. They also fielded questions related to reports that the studio was using generative AI in its development process. "So first off - there is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity," Vincke wrote in response to a question on Reddit. Last month, in an interview with Bloomberg, Vincke stated that while they weren't using AI-generated assets in Divinity, the team was experimenting with AI tools "to explore ideas, flesh out PowerPoint presentations, develop concept art and write placeholder text." His comments were immediately and fiercely criticized online by gamers, developers, and former Larian employees. In response, Vincke issued a statement clarifying that they were not using the tool to generate concept art, but as something artists could use to iterate on ideas faster. Now, in the Reddit AMA, he says they won't use it for concept art at all. "We've decided to refrain from using genAI tools during concept art development," he wrote. "That way there can be no discussion about the origin of the art." But Vincke did leave room for the possible use of gen AI assets in the future. "If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it'll be trained on data we own," he wrote. In addition to art, Larian also clarified gen AI usage with text. "We don't have any text generation touching our dialogues, journal entries or other writing in Divinity," wrote writing director Adam Smith. He said text generation was only for research, not development purposes, and that the results were too low-quality when compared to a human writer and Larian's own standards. "We had a limited group experimenting with tools to generate text, but the results hit a 3/10 at best," Smith wrote. "Even my worst first drafts ... are at least a 4/10 ... and the amount of iteration required to get even individual lines to the quality we want is enormous." While these comments might reassure players that at least gen AI assets won't be in the final product, Vincke reaffirmed that gen AI would still play some role at Larian. "Our hope is that it can aid us to refine ideas faster, leading to a more focused development cycle, less waste, and ultimately, a higher-quality game."

'There is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity': BG3 studio Larian draws line in the sand

Larian Studios has taken the chance of a Reddit AMA to answer some of the most pressing questions from its fans concerning its upcoming game, Divinity, presented with a shocking trailer at The Games Awards 2025. After the overwhelming acclaim earned through Baldur's Gate 3, a fantasy role-playing game set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons, it was hard to believe that the studio could do anything to shake the goodwill fans felt. However, Larian Studios' co-founder and game designer Swen Vincke's comments to Bloomberg on the studio's use of generative AI seemed to do just that. Polygon reached out to Larian for clarification on the studio's generative AI usage, and Vincke provided a statement confirming that the studio was not releasing a game with "any AI components" and that they were not "looking at trimming down teams to replace them with AI." The full statement can be read here. The Reddit AMA further clarified their stance. Answering a fan who asked what the studio's opinion was on the role of generative AI in the game development process, as well as its purpose for Larian in particular, Swen Vincke released the following statement. So first off - there is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity. I know there's been a lot of discussion about us using AI tools as part of concept art exploration. We already said this doesn't mean the actual concept art is generated by AI, but we understand it created confusion. So, to ensure there is no room for doubt, 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. Having said that, we continuously try to improve the speed with which we can try things out. The more iterations we can do, the better in general the gameplay is. We think GenAI can help with this, and so we're trying things out across departments. Our hope is that it can aid us to refine ideas faster, leading to a more focused development cycle, less waste, and ultimately, a higher-quality game. The important bit to note is that we will not generate "creative assets" that end up in a game without being 100% sure about the origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data. If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it'll be trained on data we own. The statement is a substantial change from Larian's previous position on the subject, which leaned toward using genAI models to help "flesh out PowerPoint presentations, develop concept art and write placeholder text." According to Vincke's answer here, however, that's no longer the case. It doesn't rule out the use of generative AI altogether, however, as Vincke is making an important distinction: Larian believes that using genAI behind the scenes can help the creative process and will continue to tinker with it, but nothing made with genAI will end up in the game unless they own the training data or have the consent of the owners of the training data. Larian's machine learning director, Gabriel Bosque, went on further to clarify how the studio's use of machine learning tools influences "game development pipelines of the future" as well as creative assets. Answering a fan's question on how AI is being implemented and how it makes game development smoother, Bosque answered with the following. "This is all new technology, so I totally understand why it's difficult to see where the positive uses are. We believe Machine Learning is a powerful tool to accelerate and make game development more efficient and streamlined. This means that our creatives have more time doing the work that makes their jobs more rewarding and the game a richer experience. The important bit to note is that we do not generate "creative assets" that end up in a game without being 100% sure about the origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data. With over 100,000 voice lines scheduled to be in the game, recorded by hundreds of actors, and even hundred thousands more to be recorded that will not end up in the game, there are useful tools for us to reduce the 'mechanical legwork' and free up time for teams that would be bogged down doing tasks that kept them away from what they really want to be doing. Additionally, our ML R&D team monitors and experiments with anything that is state of the art and that might influence game development pipelines of the future. This is important to us because we make our own engine. But we draw lines in the sand too. We explicitly committed in our actor agreements to not using the recordings to train or build AI voice modelers, because we are aware of how sensitive it can be to artificially generate an actor's voice. Even if an actor were willing to agree to this if we'd compensate them, we don't currently feel comfortable with including an AI-generated voice in our games." The use of AI to steal from actors has long been an unfortunate occurrence within the games industry. Larian's position here suggests that the studio has no intention of using AI to generate actors' voices, which will be a comfort to actors in the industry. It's still up for debate whether Larian's answers here will satisfy the company's fans, but at least the company has taken the time to address the complaints, clarify its position, and even take a step back on the topic of genAI in concept art.

'Baldur's Gate 3' Game Studio Says 'Divinity' Won't Include AI-Generated Art - Decrypt

The developer said it may test AI tools internally, but will avoid generative AI for concept art and final assets. Larian Studios, the developer behind 2023's award-winning role-playing game Baldur's Gate 3, said Friday that its upcoming game Divinity will not include any AI-generated art -- though the studio didn't entirely rule out the possibility of using AI-powered tools. Studio head Swen Vincke addressed the issue in a response posted in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) thread. The clarification follows growing criticism from players and artists over how generative AI is being used in game development. "So first off -- there is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity," Vincke wrote. "I know there's been a lot of discussion about us using AI tools as part of concept art exploration. We already said this doesn't mean the actual concept art is generated by AI, but we understand it created confusion." The confusion Vincke aimed to address stemmed from a December interview with Bloomberg, where the studio head mentioned how Larian plans to use generative AI technology. Vinke's comments today aimed to put that confusion to rest. "To ensure there is no room for doubt, we've decided to refrain from using GenAI tools during concept art development," he wrote. "That way there can be no discussion about the origin of the art." Since the public launch of ChatGPT and Midjourney in 2022, which brought prompt-based text and image generation to a wide audience, the gaming industry has grappled with how to use generative AI -- or whether to use it at all. Players, developers, and performers have raised concerns about its impact on creative work, even as studios face rising development costs and growing expectations from players. Divinity, which was revealed in December, looks to continue the studio's focus on large-scale role-playing adventures. While Vincke did not say when the next game in the Divinity saga would come out, he said Larian would continue to test AI tools in other parts of development. "We continuously try to improve the speed with which we can try things out," he wrote. "The more iterations we can do, the better in general the gameplay is." Vincke said any AI-generated content included in a game would be subject to limits around data ownership and consent. "The important bit to note is that we will not generate 'creative assets' that end up in a game without being 100% sure about the origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data," he wrote. "If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it'll be trained on data we own." Launched in 2002, Divinity is a series of fantasy role-playing games known for its turn-based combat, narrative choice, and cooperative multiplayer. The series helped establish the studio before its success with Baldur's Gate 3. The previous entry, 2017's Divinity: Original Sin II, launched to rave reviews from critics. Whether or not the commitment to using generative AI only for prototyping satisfies players remains to be seen, as major game publishers, including Square Enix, and Microsoft, have slashed jobs in favor of automation. Addressing concerns about the use of AI in game development, Larian Machine Learning Lead Gabriel Bosque said the studio views machine learning technology as a tool to support, not displace, its creative teams or voice actors. "This is all new technology, so I totally understand why it's difficult to see where the positive uses are," he wrote. "We believe machine learning is a powerful tool to accelerate and make game development more efficient and streamlined. This means that our creatives have more time doing the work that makes their jobs more rewarding and the game a richer experience."

Larian swears off gen AI concept art tools and says 'There is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity,' but it's still 'trying [AI] things out across departments'

Larian landed in hot water last month when -- in a chat with Bloomberg -- bossman Swen Vincke mentioned that the Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity studio had using generative AI at the studio and that devs "often use AI tools to explore ideas, flesh out PowerPoint presentations, develop concept art and write placeholder text." That set the cat among the pigeons. There was an immediate and intense reaction as fans wondered what this meant for the studio's future games. Would Divinity be stuffed with AI slop? Would it be built with gen AI trained on artwork of dubious provenance? Eventually, Larian promised a Reddit Q&A session to give players a bit of transparency into the studio, its processes, and how it's using AI. Or how it's not using AI, I guess. As was prophesied, Larian held its Q&A -- with Vincke and a load of other studio honchos -- earlier today. One key takeaway? Larian's swearing off using gen AI tools in concept art development. "First off -- there is not going to be any gen AI art in Divinity," wrote Vincke. "I know there's been a lot of discussion about us using AI tools as part of concept art exploration. We already said this doesn't mean the actual concept art is generated by AI but we understand it created confusion. "So, to ensure there is no room for doubt, we've decided to refrain from using gen AI tools during concept art development." So, hooray, right? Death Star blown up, the rebels are victorious, truth and justice prevail once again. Well, kind of. Vincke might be vetoing AI in concept art, but the gen AI genie isn't going back in its bottle entirely. "We continuously try to improve the speed with which we can try things out. The more iterations we can do, the better in general the gameplay is. We think gen AI can help with this and so we're trying things out across departments." What things is Larian trying out specifically? Vincke doesn't say, and I have to admit that sort of vagueness means I'm still a little concerned. One thing we can be sure of: it doesn't mean gen AI assets will never work their way into Larian videogames to come. "We will not generate 'creative assets' that end up in a game without being 100% sure about the origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data," Vincke wrote. "If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it'll be trained on data we own." Better than a model trained on stolen artwork, I suppose, but it still makes me nervous.

Divinity Maker Revises AI Stance After RPG Fan Blowback

The Divinity maker elaborated on controversial comments about gen AI from last year Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke has now shared more details about how the acclaimed RPG studio will be approaching the use of generative AI tools for developing its next game, Divinity. Speaking to fans in an AMA on Reddit, the director walked back a previous statement that Larian would use generative AI to help with references for concept art, but did say that Divinity could include gen-AI assets in the finished game as long as the studio is "100 percent sure about the origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data." The gaming veteran landed in hot water last month over comments in an interview with Bloomberg about how Larian was experimenting with AI tools in the production of its next game, including generating references for concept art, producing PowerPoints, and other early production work that could help speed up the prototyping trial and error phase. At the same time, the CEO doubled-down on the idea that no AI elements would appear in the finished game and the studio wasn't turning to the controversial tools to try and cut its headcount. In today's AMA, which was promised in response to the prior backlash, Vincke said that AI will no longer be used at all in the concept art phase, but did suggest the studio is looking at ways to use gen AI tools trained exclusively on the company's own material. Here's his full statement: So first off - there is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity. I know there’s been a lot of discussion about us using AI tools as part of concept art exploration. We already said this doesn’t mean the actual concept art is generated by AI but we understand it created confusion. So, to ensure there is no room for doubt, 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. Having said that, we continuously try to improve the speed with which we can try things out. The more iterations we can do, the better in general the gameplay is. We think GenAI can help with this and so we’re trying things out across departments. Our hope is that it can aid us to refine ideas faster, leading to a more focused development cycle, less waste, and ultimately, a higher-quality game. The important bit to note is that we will not generate “creative assets†that end up in a game without being 100% sure about the origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data. If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it’ll be trained on data we own. Larian's new position addresses two of the chief criticisms of generative AI tools. The first is that they're used by companies to undercut and replace human creatives. The second is that they produce content stolen from the millions of people who's work they were trained on. A set of gen AI tools trained entirely on Larian's own proprietary game assets could potentially side-step that second critique, though it also suggests that Divinity could include at least some assets that were generated with the help of AI. Developers have long used machine learning and procedural generation to help create pieces of a game that humans can then go and tweak as needed. It would be impossible to craft the beautiful cosmos of No Man's Sky by hand. The bulk of its universe is generated from algorithms designed by the team Hello Games. But as technology advances, algorithms have been able to produce more and more of the stuff that players might find in a finished game, leading many fans to balk at things like sloppy gen AI loading screen art and even games like Arc Raiders that use algorithms to generate spoken performances for NPCs.

"If we're publishing the game, 'no f***ing AI assets'": CEO of Manor Lords publisher Hooded Horse bans gen AI art and calls it "cancerous"

Firmly countering the full-throated endorsements of generative AI made by large companies like EA and Ubisoft, the CEO of markedly smaller publisher Hooded Horse, a strategy and simulation specialist known by many for city builder hit Manor Lords, says it's begun explicitly banning gen AI art in contracts. Where many gaming executives are eager to preach the immense potential of AI tools and output, CEO Tim Bender, speaking with Kotaku, laments that, "honestly, all this thing has done is made our lives more difficult." "I fucking hate gen AI art and it has made my life more difficult in many ways...suddenly it infests shit in a way it shouldn't," Bender says. "It is now written into our contracts if we're publishing the game, 'no fucking AI assets.'" Hooded Horse draws a clear line at gen AI art in its games, and Bender says "we've gotten to the point where we also talk to developers and we recommend they don't use any gen AI anywhere in the process". This is partly to make it a bit easier and more consistent to weed out potential gen AI slop. You can't accidentally leave in purported AI-generated art placeholders, as the nevertheless-excellent Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 did, if you never add them at all. "If that gets done, of course, there's a chance that that slips through, because it only takes one of those slipping through in some build and not getting replaced or something," the CEO says. "Because of that, we're constantly having to watch and deal with it and try to prevent it from slipping in, because it's cancerous," Bender adds. Hooded Horse rang in the new year with the 1.0 release of Terra Invicta, a sci-fi grand strategy game more than nine years in the making. You'll notice a distinct lack of any sort of AI disclosure on its Steam page.

One Game Publisher Is Pushing Back Against AI Art With Contracts That Ban It: 'It's Cancerous' - Kotaku

Companies pumping hundreds of billions in investment into new generative AI tools and LLM models promote it as a sea change technology that will be as revolutionary as the introduction of the desktop computer. Even some game industry figures believe it will usher in a new era in which games are made better, quicker, and more cheaply, democratizing development for creatives without hundred-person teams behind them. For indie publisher Tim Bender, the recent explosion in AI slop has been nothing but a headache. "If I sound frustrated, it's because, like, honestly, all this thing has done is made our lives more difficult." The label he helps run as CEO, Hooded Horse, struck gold after signing the medieval base-builder mega hit Manor Lords, but its library of published games has grown far beyond it in the past two years with releases like the Lego-like tower-defense game Cataclismo, the economic management sim Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic, and the 4X sequel Endless Legend 2. Being strategy games isn't the only thing they all have in common. They also all adhere to a strict ban on generative AI art. "I fucking hate gen AI art and it has made my life more difficult in many ways...suddenly it infests shit in a way it shouldn't," Bender told me in a recent interview. "It is now written into our contracts if we're publishing the game, 'no fucking AI assets.'" It turns out that just saying no to gen AI is the easy part. Actually trying to enforce a ban is where things can get tricky. There's no magical machine you can put a game through to detect if it has generative AI content in it. Platforms like Steam, which require disclosures for the use of such content, basically operate on good faith that developers will be honest about what's in their games. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 briefly had AI placeholder art in one part of the game at launch before it was eventually pulled, but that box on the Steam page was never checked. Production can be messy enough even within small studios. Development teams working with freelancers or outsource companies, as many indies do, will have an even harder time maintaining checks throughout the production pipeline to weed out any gen AI art usage. "We've gotten to the point where we also talk to developers and we recommend they don't use any gen AI anywhere in the process because some of them might otherwise think, 'Okay, well, maybe what I'll do is for this place, I'll put it as a placeholder,' right?" Bender told me. "Like some, people will have this thought, like they would never want to let it in the game, but they'll think, 'It can be a placeholder in this prototype build.' But if that gets done, of course, there's a chance that that slips through, because it only takes one of those slipping through in some build and not getting replaced or something." He continued, "because of that, we're constantly having to watch and deal with it and try to prevent it from slipping in, because it's cancerous." Hooded Horse, which already this year helped usher the grand strategy sci-fi game Terra Invicta out of Early Access and into its 1.0 release, employs two full-time artists who help with all of the publisher's marketing art, which can include appearances in showcases and announcements for things like Xbox Game Pass launches. "It would be a betrayal of them to work with anything that is using gen-AI art, like, I wouldn't be able to face them if we had that right. And we're absolutely committed ethically, for all the reasons you know, against this," Bender said. His point of view isn't one you hear a whole lot among the video game industry's giants. EA is all in on the potential for AI to make its loot-box-driven sports franchises even more lucrative. Embark Studios, maker of last year's mega-hit Arc Raiders, continues to shrug off complaints about the game's use of generative-AI voice performances. "We don't use AI to not have to hire people or replace people or job groups or voice actors," CEO Patrick Söderlund recently told GamesBeat. "People have to take a step back and understand what it is and how it can be a big help to developers and be a tremendous benefit to players. I realize it is an intricate subject and discussion." There's also a sense among some developers that everyone else is rushing to embrace the AI revolution, and anyone who doesn't will find themselves left behind in a landscape that's increasingly competitive and hostile to new game releases. "Korea is reportedly one of the countries where ChatGPT is used most actively," Sean Kim, the co-CEO of Lies of P publisher Neowiz, told Game Informer. "It’s hard to find a game company here today that isn’t using AI in some way. At the very least, companies are using either ChatGPT or Gemini." Even some acclaimed GOTY winners have been captured by this mindset. “Our successes come from empowering people to work in their own way and bring the best out of their skill & craft, so that we can make the best RPGs we can possibly make,†Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke posted on X last month. “In that context, it would be irresponsible for us not to evaluate new technologies. However, our processes are always evolving, and where they are not efficient or fail to align with who we are, we will make changes.†The Larian Studios cofounder was responding to controversy that had erupted over previous remarks that suggested gen-AI would be used in the making of the studio's next RPG, Divinity. Vincke promised no gen-AI assets in the finished game but suggested artists might experiment with it during the exploratory phase of development. For Hooded Horse, the issue with gen AI isn't just about skepticism over its usefulness or potential backlash from players, it's about the moral issues surrounding tools trained on plagiarizing other people's work. "When it comes to gen-AI, it's not a PR issue, it's an ethics issue," Bender said. "The reality is, there's so much of it going on that the commitment just has to be that you won't allow it in the game, and if it's ever discovered, because this artist that was hired by this outside person slipped something in, you get it out and you replace it. That has to be the commitment. It's a shame that it's even necessary and it's a very frustrating thing to have to worry about."

Larian Studios Will "Refrain From Using GenAI Tools" to Develop Concept Art, But Will Still Try Apply GenAI Tools Elsewhere

When Larian Studios announced Divinity at The Game Awards 2025, it likely did not think what would follow would be swarms of backlash targeted at the studio and its chief executive officer, Swen Vincke. Not because it had announced a new Divinity game, but because Vincke had made it clear that Larian had been experimenting with using GenAI tools in its development process. Those comments came with considerable backlash, to which Vincke responded fairly bluntly before trying a more measured statement, but that did not stop players and other game developers in the industry who are entirely against the use of GenAI tools from hurling more vitriol towards Larian Studios. Game writers and some former Larian developers even took the opportunity to pile on Larian more with the airing of grievances around the studio's poor hiring practices and how it introduced GenAI in the first place. Other members of the industry, like Warhorse Studios founder and creative director Daniel Vávra stood up to defend Larian, but it seemed that Larian's critics would not be satisfied with anything short of Vincke entirely denouncing the use of GenAI tools and admitting he and the team were wrong to even try using them. To cap off his comments on the topic in 2025, Vincke said "a lot has been lost in translation" on the topic, and promised that he and the team would do a Reddit AMA to let players ask whatever questions they want to provide a clear and final word on the topic. Well, that Reddit AMA has been happening today, and it should be no surprise that the first question was all about GenAI tools and their role in Divinity's development, and within Larian Studios overall. Vincke was the one to answer it, and while he did not provide the answer that would satisfy the biggest GenAI critics, he did clear up one element of the studio's generative AI use. "So first off - there is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity," Vincke began. "I know there's been a lot of discussion about us using AI tools as part of concept art exploration. We already said this doesn't mean the actual concept art is generated by AI but we understand it created confusion." "So, to ensure there is no room for doubt, 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." But Vincke didn't stop there. While the studio will "refrain from using genAI" for concept art, other areas are still on the table, as a means of trying to speed up development where possible. "Having said that, we continuously try to improve the speed with which we can try things out. The more iterations we can do, the better in general the gameplay is. We think GenAI can help with this and so we're trying things out across departments. Our hope is that it can aid us to refine ideas faster, leading to a more focused development cycle, less waste, and ultimately, a higher-quality game." "The important bit to note is that we will not generate "creative assets" that end up in a game without being 100% sure about the origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data. If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it'll be trained on data we own." In a follow-up question, Larian Studios' writing director Adam Smith confirmed that the approach to GenAI tools in concept art applies to writing as well, even when it comes to just using generative text as a placeholder. "The stance applies to writing as well. We don't have any text generation touching our dialogues, journal entries or other writing in Divinity," Smith wrote. "To answer your second question, 'how does generated placeholder text benefit development over simple stub text'"- it doesn't. We had a limited group experimenting with tools to generate text, but the results hit a 3/10 at best and those tools are for research purposes, not for use in Divinity. Even my worst first drafts - and there are a LOT of them - are at least a 4/10 (although Swen might disagree), and the amount of iteration required to get even individual lines to the quality we want is enormous. From the initial stub to the line we record and ship, there are a great many eyes and hands involved in getting a dialogue right." So it's not the answer that the studio's biggest critics would like, but it's clear that the needle has moved on Larian Studios' use of GenAI. For now, the use of generative AI tools in game development will continue to be a controversial topic, whichever side of the aisle you're on.

Larian states that upcoming Divinity won't feature AI generated art but might use AI elsewhere

The Baldur's Gate III studio has clarified its stance on the controversial technology. Despite making arguably one of the greatest video games of all-time in Baldur's Gate III, developer Larian has found itself in all kinds of hot water as of recently as the studio's stance on artificial intelligence became public. While many gamers and fans despise all things AI, Larian is vocal that the technology has its uses, and this has led many to be fearful of the upcoming Divinity project and the way AI is being incorporated into it in generative ways. Larian CEO Swen Vincke has now touched on this topic once again in a Reddit AMA, where he explains further how AI fits into the developer's plans for Divinity. While you can read Vincke's full statement below, long story short, he explains that Larian intends to use AI to streamline development and hopefully turn around games more quickly and in a more cost effective way, not to create artistic assets and so forth. "So first off - there is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity. "I know there's been a lot of discussion about us using AI tools as part of concept art exploration. We already said this doesn't mean the actual concept art is generated by AI but we understand it created confusion. "So, to ensure there is no room for doubt, 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. "Having said that, we continuously try to improve the speed with which we can try things out. The more iterations we can do, the better in general the gameplay is. "We think GenAI can help with this and so we're trying things out across departments. Our hope is that it can aid us to refine ideas faster, leading to a more focused development cycle, less waste, and ultimately, a higher-quality game. "The important bit to note is that we will not generate "creative assets" that end up in a game without being 100% sure about the origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data. If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it'll be trained on data we own." Larian has long been an admirable studio for the way it operates and clearly it doesn't want to lose this trait even in the wake of breaching into the world of bringing AI into video game development. It should also be said that the way Larian is conducting itself on the AI topic is a reflection of many developers, who currently and will continue to use the technology to streamline areas of development that are more logical and less creative. There will be exceptions to this (cough, cough Activision and its clearly AI-generated Call of Duty calling cards), but if AI is used to simply enhance development and not replace key creatives, it could be beneficial, especially in an era where AAA games can take half a decade to make. What is your stance on AI being used in video game development?

"Trained on Data We Own", Divinity Dev Explains How AI Will Be Used Without Replacing Humans

They assured that Larian Studios is explicitly committed to their actor agreements of not using the voice recording to train AI voice modelers. Larian Studios has been one of the most loved game developers in the community for years now. Their success with Baldur's Gate 3 only made them incredibly more famous and mainstream than before. But recently, they received a ton of backlash when their director revealed that Larian Studios had used Generative AI to create concept art for Baldur's Gate 3. Although they later confirmed that none of the content in the actual game was made using AI, the damage was already done, and it was spreading to their upcoming game, Divinity. In a recent AMA conducted by Larian Studios for AMA, many gamers took the chance to question about their use of Generative AI. Instead of backing out or avoiding the questions, Larian chose to finally answer and promised how they plan to use AI without replacing humans. Swen Vincke, the CEO of Larian Studios, answered the first question related to AI, confirming that there is not going to be any GenAI art in Divinity. He spoke in detail on how their use of GenAI for exploring concept art created confusion in the community, which is why they have decided to stop using any AI tool for future concept art development. However, Swen continued by saying how he thinks AI can greatly improve speed across multiple departments. We think GenAI can help with this and so we're trying things out across departments. Our hope is that it can aid us to refine ideas faster, leading to a more focused development cycle, less waste, and ultimately, a higher-quality game. He further mentioned how if Larian plans to create in-game assets using Generative AI, it won't be based on trained data from unknown sources. Instead, they would be training the AI on data they already own and use it on their upcoming games like Divinity. Gabriel, the Machine Learning Director of Larina, answered on another thread, mentioning the various positive uses of AI in game development. He clarified that Larian does not generate "creative assets" without being 100% sure about the origin of the data and their consent that the AI was trained upon. He further assured that Larian is explicitly committed to their actor agreements of not using the voice recording to train AI voice modelers. So, what's your take on Larian Studios' use of Generative AI? Let us know about your thoughts in the comments below.