Larian Studios CEO Sven Vincke faced a wave of criticism from fans after revealing in an interview with Bloomberg that his artists use generative AI to explore ideas when working on Divinity. Vincke emphasized that AI does not replace concept artists and is not used to create final concept art, but only helps to experiment. Nevertheless, this sparked heated discussions in the community.
Adrian Chmielarz, co-founder and head of the Polish studio The Astronauts, known for The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, as well as for his participation in the creation of Bulletstorm and Painkiller in the past, expressed his position on this issue. Currently, the studio is working on a shooter with role-playing elements Witchfire.
The Astronauts adheres to a strict "no AI" policy: no final asset, sound, or text in Witchfire will be created using artificial intelligence. However, Chmielarz himself takes a more nuanced view of the situation and believes that Larian Studios was simply "a little unlucky."
Larian are definitely not the bad guys. Judging by their statement from December 18, they are now seriously thinking about what this means for the studio in the future. Let's see what they come up with
He does not condemn the use of AI for experiments, but understands the dissatisfaction of some of the audience: even if the final product is completely created by people, starting with a "rotten seed" — AI-generated material — can be off-putting. At the same time, Chmielarz believes that if the game is completely made by people, and AI was used only as a source of inspiration, it can be considered free from AI.