The Creators of Baldur's Gate 3 Details Its Implementation of Machine Learning for Next Divinity Game
The team behind acclaimed titles like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just teased its new project, sparking a wave of hype within the gaming community. However, follow-up remarks from the studio's figurehead have brought a new dimension to the narrative, focusing on the studio's stance toward machine learning.
A Tool for Ideation, Not Replacement
In a new clarification, the studio's founder detailed that the team is employing machine learning for specific ancillary tasks. These include fleshing out pitch decks, generating initial artistic references, and writing placeholder text.
Importantly, Vincke made clear that the end content in the game will be created exclusively by human creatives. "Larian is creating all the content manually," he stated.
Larian is actively increasing our pool of writers and are actively forming narrative groups.
As concept art is being particularly called out — we presently have twenty-three visual developers and have job openings for more artists.
All our efforts we do is incremental and designed to enabling creatives to spend additional energy on the creative process.
Any machine learning application implemented properly is supplementary to a artist's workflow, never a stand-in for their talent.
Addressing Concerns and Clarifying the Vision
The revelation of using AI at first sparked unease among portions of the player base. In reply, Vincke provided further elaboration on online platforms.
"We use AI tools to explore references, similar to we use Google and reference books," he stated. "During the very early ideation stages we use it as a rough outline for layout which we then swap out with original artwork."
He added, "We've hired talent for their creative vision, not for their capacity to execute what a AI generates."
Three Pillars of Practical Application
Vincke had in the past broken down the studio's practical approach to AI and ML, defining its use into three main areas:
- Handling Monotonous Jobs: This includes motion capture cleaning, dialogue cleanup, and technical processes like adapting animations for different models.
- Rapid Prototyping ('White Boxing'): Using tools to speedily create rough mock-ups of scenarios to test concepts ahead of complete development.
- Future Potential for Gameplay: Investigating how machine learning could eventually create emergent reactivity, particularly in managing unforeseen permutations in a detailed game universe.
He specifically noted that core creative areas — including music composition — are are in no way fields where the company is cutting creative talent. On the contrary, Larian is recruiting more in these precise positions.
"Larian is not launching a game with AI-generated content, and we are certainly not considering trimming down staff to replace them with artificial intelligence," Vincke stated definitively.
