The Creators of Baldur's Gate 3 Clarifies Its Use of Machine Learning for New Divinity Game

The team behind hit titles like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin recently teased its upcoming project, creating immense anticipation within the industry. However, follow-up statements from the company's co-founder have brought a new dimension to the conversation, focusing on the developer's stance toward AI tools.

A Tool for Ideation, Not Replacement

In a new clarification, the studio's founder explained that the team is utilizing generative AI for particular supporting purposes. These involve fleshing out PowerPoint slides, producing rough concept art, and creating temporary dialogue.

Crucially, Vincke made clear that the shipping material in the game will be crafted entirely by actual writers. "Our team is developing everything in-house," he said.

Our studio is constantly growing our roster of storytellers and are currently forming narrative groups.

As this area is being explicitly referenced — we currently have twenty-three concept artists and have roles to fill for more talent.

All our efforts we do is supplementary and aimed at letting our team spend greater focus on making content.

Every ML tool applied correctly is additive to a developer's process, not a replacement for their craft.

Responding to Feedback and Defining the Path

The news of employing this technology initially generated concern among some the player base. In response, Vincke issued additional elaboration on public forums.

"At Larian, we employ AI tools to research ideas, in the same way we use search engines and reference books," he explained. "During the conceptual planning process we use it as a rough outline for structure which we then replace with authentic artwork."

He noted, "We've hired creatives for their inherent skill, not for their ability to execute what a machine suggests."

Three Pillars of Practical Application

Vincke had earlier detailed the team's practical strategy to this technology, defining its use into primary areas:

• Handling Monotonous Jobs: Areas like refining animations, dialogue cleanup, and technical processes like adjusting assets for various species.
• Accelerated Iteration: Using technology to quickly build basic versions of gameplay ideas to test concepts ahead of expensive implementation.
• Future Potential for Gameplay: Exploring how machine learning could in the future create emergent player agency, especially in simulating player-driven narratives in a vast role-playing world.

He specifically stated that key artistic disciplines — such as visual art — are are in no way fields where the team is cutting creative talent. In fact, Larian is actively hiring in these precise positions.

"Larian is neither releasing a game with any AI components, and we are certainly not considering cutting staff to swap them out with AI," Vincke stated definitively.