The Creators of Baldur's Gate 3 Details Its Use of Generative AI for Next Divinity
The studio behind acclaimed RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin has recently unveiled its upcoming project, sparking a wave of excitement within the gaming community. However, subsequent statements from the company's lead designer have added a new dimension to the discussion, addressing the team's philosophy toward AI tools.
Augmenting Workflows, Not Cutting Jobs
In a recent statement, the studio's founder outlined that the developer is utilizing generative AI for certain preliminary purposes. These encompass enhancing PowerPoint slides, producing initial artistic references, and writing placeholder dialogue.
Notably, Vincke stressed that the final material in the game will be authored exclusively by actual creatives. "Our team is writing all the content manually," he said.
Larian is actively growing our roster of storytellers and are busily putting together narrative groups.
Given that visual development is being specifically called out — we presently have over twenty artistic staff and have roles to fill for additional artists.
All our efforts we do is incremental and focused on enabling creatives to spend greater focus on the creative process.
Any ML tool applied correctly is additive to a developer's workflow, never a stand-in for their skill.
Tempering Reactions with Clear Intent
The admission of employing this technology at first generated backlash among some the fanbase. In response, Vincke offered additional clarification on social media.
"We use machine learning to research ideas, just like we use the internet and physical media," he stated. "In the initial ideation stages we use it as a basic framework for layout which we then replace with authentic concept art."
He continued, "Our studio recruits talent for their inherent skill, not for their capacity to follow what a machine suggests."
Key Areas of AI Integration
Vincke had previously detailed the team's targeted method to AI and ML, defining its use into three main functions:
- Automation of Tedious Tasks: Areas like polishing mocap data, voice editing, and pipeline-specific tasks like adjusting assets for various species.
- Accelerated Iteration: Using tools to rapidly prototype basic models of gameplay ideas to experiment with concepts ahead of expensive implementation.
- Future Potential for Gameplay: Exploring how machine learning could one day facilitate emergent gameplay, especially in creating player-driven narratives in a vast role-playing world.
He clearly noted that central narrative domains — like music composition — are are absolutely not areas where the company is cutting creative input. In fact, Larian is actively hiring in these precise fields.
"Our studio is not shipping a game with machine-made assets, and we are certainly not looking at cutting teams to swap them out with AI," Vincke stated definitively.
