Larian Studios Clarifies Its Application of AI Tools for New Divinity Game

The developer behind popular role-playing games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just shown its new project, sparking significant anticipation within the player base. However, subsequent remarks from the company's co-founder have introduced nuance to the discussion, addressing the developer's approach toward generative artificial intelligence.

AI as a Creative Assistant, Not a Substitute

In a latest statement, Larian's director explained that the company is using machine learning for specific supporting tasks. These encompass enhancing presentation materials, creating rough artistic references, and writing draft dialogue.

Crucially, Vincke made clear that the final assets in the game will be authored entirely by human artists. "Our team is writing every line manually," he said.

We are continuously increasing our pool of storytellers and are currently forming writing teams.

Since this area is being particularly called out — we right now have twenty-three concept artists and have job openings for more talent.

All our efforts we do is incremental and designed to having people spend more time on actual creation.

Every ML tool used well is supplementary to a developer's workflow, not a replacement for their talent.

Responding to Feedback and Defining the Path

The revelation of AI usage at first provoked backlash among some the player base. In reply, Vincke issued further clarification on social media.

"At Larian, we employ machine learning to explore references, in the same way we use the internet and physical media," he wrote. "During the initial planning process we use it as a basic framework for structure which we then replace with hand-crafted artwork."

He added, "Larian brings on creatives for their creative vision, not for their capacity to follow what a algorithm proposes."

Three Pillars of Practical Application

Vincke had previously outlined the company's practical method to AI and ML, categorizing its use into key pillars:

• Automation of Tedious Tasks: Areas like motion capture cleaning, voice editing, and Larian-specific work like retargeting animations.
• Fast-Tracked Experimentation: Using systems to quickly build rough versions of mechanics to validate concepts before complete implementation.
• Future Potential for Gameplay: Exploring how AI could in the future facilitate emergent reactivity, particularly in creating dynamic reactions in a vast role-playing world.

He explicitly stated that key artistic disciplines — including writing — are are in no way departments where the team is cutting artistic input. On the contrary, Larian is actively hiring in these very positions.

"We are neither launching a game with AI-generated content, nor looking at trimming down teams to substitute them with AI," Vincke summarized.