The Creators of Baldur's Gate 3 Clarifies Its Application of AI Tools for Next Divinity

The team behind hit titles like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin recently shown its next major project, sparking a wave of anticipation within the player base. However, follow-up remarks from the company's lead designer have brought clarity to the discussion, touching on the studio's philosophy toward AI tools.

AI as a Creative Assistant, Not a Substitute

In a recent statement, Larian's director explained that the company is employing AI technology for certain preliminary purposes. These include fleshing out presentation materials, producing early-stage visual ideas, and drafting draft text.

Notably, Vincke emphasized that the final material in the game will be created solely by real artists. "We are writing everything manually," he said.

Larian is continuously expanding our pool of writers and are actively putting together writing teams.

Given that concept art is being explicitly mentioned — we right now have over twenty visual developers and have roles to fill for further artists.

Everything we do is incremental and focused on having people spend more time on making content.

Every AI system applied correctly is supplementary to a artist's process, not a substitute for their talent.

Addressing Concerns and Clarifying the Vision

The revelation of using AI originally provoked concern among some the player base. In reply, Vincke offered further elaboration on online platforms.

"At Larian, we employ AI tools to research ideas, similar to we use search engines and reference books," he wrote. "In the very early planning process we use it as a simple sketch for composition which we then substitute with hand-crafted artwork."

He added, "Our studio recruits artists for their unique talent, not for their capacity to follow what a algorithm proposes."

Key Areas of AI Integration

Vincke had in the past outlined the company's targeted approach to AI and ML, defining its use into key areas:

• Handling Monotonous Jobs: Areas like motion capture cleaning, audio processing, and Larian-specific work like adapting animations for different models.
• Rapid Prototyping ('White Boxing'): Using technology to speedily create rough models of gameplay ideas to experiment with concepts ahead of complete production.
• Long-Term Aspirations: Investigating how machine learning could eventually enhance innovative reactivity, especially in creating unforeseen permutations in a detailed game universe.

He explicitly noted that central narrative areas — such as visual art — are are in no way fields where the company is reducing creative talent. On the contrary, Larian is actively hiring in these precise fields.

"Our studio is neither releasing a game with any AI components, and we are certainly not planning on trimming down staff to replace them with AI," Vincke summarized.