The Divinity Developer Explains Its Use of Machine Learning for Next Divinity
The studio behind acclaimed role-playing games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just teased its new project, sparking immense hype within the industry. However, subsequent remarks from the studio's figurehead have added nuance to the narrative, focusing on the studio's approach toward AI tools.
Augmenting Workflows, Not Cutting Jobs
In a recent message, Swen Vincke outlined that the developer is using generative AI for specific supporting tasks. These encompass fleshing out presentation materials, generating early-stage concept art, and writing draft dialogue.
Notably, Vincke emphasized that the final assets in the game will be crafted exclusively by real writers. "Larian is creating all the content ourselves," he stated.
Larian is constantly increasing our team of storytellers and are busily assembling narrative groups.
Given that visual development is being specifically mentioned — we currently have twenty-three concept artists and have roles to fill for additional creatives.
All our efforts we do is incremental and designed to letting our team spend more time on making content.
Every machine learning application implemented properly is a boost to a artist's workflow, never a stand-in for their talent.
Tempering Reactions with Clear Intent
The revelation of using AI at first provoked concern among some the community. In reaction, Vincke offered additional elaboration on online platforms.
"Our team utilizes AI tools to gather inspiration, similar to we use search engines and art books," he wrote. "In the conceptual brainstorming phase we use it as a basic framework for structure which we then replace with hand-crafted concept art."
He noted, "Larian brings on artists for their inherent skill, not for their willingness to replicate what a AI generates."
Focused Uses for Machine Learning
Vincke had in the past outlined the company's focused method to machine learning, grouping its use into key areas:
- Streamlining Repetitive Work: This encompasses refining animations, dialogue cleanup, and pipeline-specific tasks like retargeting animations.
- Accelerated Iteration: Using tools to quickly build simple mock-ups of gameplay ideas to validate concepts ahead of complete production.
- Future Potential for Gameplay: Exploring how AI could eventually create innovative player agency, specifically in creating dynamic reactions in a vast role-playing world.
He specifically affirmed that key artistic domains — such as music composition — are not departments where the studio is replacing artistic involvement. In fact, Larian is expanding its staff in these precise fields.
"Our studio is neither releasing a game with AI-generated content, and we are certainly not planning on reducing teams to replace them with artificial intelligence," Vincke concluded.
