The Divinity Developer Details Its Application of Generative AI for New Divinity Game

The developer behind hit RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just teased its next major project, sparking immense excitement within the industry. However, follow-up comments from the studio's lead designer have added a new dimension to the discussion, touching on the team's stance toward generative artificial intelligence.

Augmenting Workflows, Not Cutting Jobs

In a latest statement, Larian's director explained that the team is using generative AI for certain ancillary tasks. These include enhancing pitch decks, producing rough visual ideas, and drafting draft text.

Crucially, Vincke emphasized that the final material in the game will be crafted exclusively by actual writers. "Our team is creating everything ourselves," he affirmed.

Our studio is constantly increasing our pool of writers and are busily assembling dedicated writer rooms.

As concept art is being specifically referenced — we right now have over twenty visual developers and have positions available for more artists.

Each initiative we do is incremental and designed to enabling creatives to spend greater focus on making content.

Every ML tool applied correctly is a boost to a developer's process, never a stand-in for their talent.

Tempering Reactions with Clear Intent

The admission of using AI initially sparked concern among portions of the community. In response, Vincke offered additional detail on public forums.

"We use AI tools to gather inspiration, similar to we use the internet and art books," he stated. "During the initial ideation stages we use it as a simple sketch for layout which we then replace with authentic concept art."

He continued, "Our studio recruits artists for their unique talent, not for their capacity to execute what a machine suggests."

Three Pillars of Practical Application

Vincke had previously detailed the team's practical approach to this technology, grouping its use into key functions:

• Handling Monotonous Jobs: Areas like motion capture cleaning, voice editing, and pipeline-specific tasks like retargeting animations.
• Fast-Tracked Experimentation: Using systems to rapidly prototype rough models of scenarios to experiment with concepts prior to expensive development.
• Future Potential for Gameplay: Researching how machine learning could one day facilitate emergent gameplay, particularly in simulating dynamic reactions in a detailed game universe.

He clearly noted that key artistic areas — such as music composition — are are in no way fields where the studio is cutting human involvement. On the contrary, Larian is recruiting more in these exact positions.

"Larian is not shipping a game with any AI components, nor planning on reducing teams to swap them out with artificial intelligence," Vincke summarized.